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Family
Posted on June 3rd, 2012 No comments“Now at last my husband will become attached to me,
because I have borne him three sons.”
Genesis 29:34
As an unmarried woman, I had long labored under the belief the marriage automatically bestowed companionship, warmth, and protection – all the warm & fuzzy feelings normally associated with family. (That’s my word of wisdom for today – family.) Over the years, as I saw couples that I thought were happy suddenly file for divorce; and even as I spoke with women who love their husbands & children admit that there were times when they still felt alone, I’ve come to realize that family doesn’t automatically mean “closeness”. Leah was Jacob’s first, but unloved, wife; and she’s the one hoping that giving birth to a third son will finally make him love her. It’s sad.
I’m not writing this to be a wet blanket. In my very first (May 14) blog on this website, I revealed that I did not know the importance of making choices about how I wanted my life to unfold. A family can be a place of protection, bonding, peace, warmth, understanding, etc; but now I believe family only becomes that place if you choose & plan for your family to be that safe haven. Being happily married is better than being alone; and being alone is much better than being unhappily married. The planning begins with God.
God sets the lonely in families . . .
Psalm 68:6
The purpose of If I Knew Then What I Know Now is to share some insights that I wish someone had told me about when I was younger. There’s a fuller explanation on my first post, written on May 14, 2012.