I want out...I think...

I don't know of anyone who starts out in family life having figured out how to make a relationship work, let alone how to raise kiddos that are emotionally healthy and well-adjusted. Somehow, we bumble through this 'family life', making the best of the relationship woes we are challenged with and doing the best we can with what we have right in front of us. The knowledge about how to build a solid family is something that God gives as we 'walk through' the various challenges we face. 

It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong. It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures. Wise people have great power, and those with knowledge have great strength. (Proverbs 24:3-5)

Those with knowledge - isn't that what we are lacking? We face a bump in the road within the relationship and then all of a sudden, we realize just how 'inept' we are at handling it. We wonder how we got where we are, not realizing that a bump here or there got us off-course totally, and now we are facing relationship woe after woe, wondering if there is any way 'out' without actually leaving the relationship. Kids bring a new level of challenge, placing tremendous pressure on parents just trying to do their best getting through figuring out their own relationship hiccups. Now what?

We take those 'woes' and 'challenges' to God. We might not realize it, but he cares so much about each one of those bumps in the road and he doesn't want us to give into the idea of needing to 'get out' of the relationship in order to get beyond the bumps. The bumps may be of our own doing, but there are a great many we face because of all the interacting challenges. The ones he faces are added to by the ones she faces, then the kiddos add even more, until we are spiraling out of control as a family. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you - this is what family life can be like!

God's advice is to ask for his advice! Get the issue before God - in prayer, in time in the Word, in conversations with other Christians with a solid foundation in their own relationships. You aren't going to just figure it out on your own. You need his help. Wisdom is applied knowledge - the more you ask for his help, take what he tells you in prayer, his Word, and solid advice, the more you will develop the wisdom to navigate the challenges. Will it be easy? Never! Will it be worth it? Yes! Family life is complicated, but his wisdom applied within it makes for a much stronger outcome! Just sayin!