At every turn there are shows on TV where someone is trying to bring families together. Their efforts are also all over the internet. So, we can be assured that families all over the world are experiencing some issues that causes many to reach out for help. We can live in a neighborhood for years and assume that the people across the street from us, you know the ones - There is a husband and wife, two kids a couple of dogs and some cats. You can see the dad leave each day to go to work. The mom loads up the mini van with the kids and drops them off at school before heading on to her job. In the afternoon, here comes the mom and kids. You can see the dog race to the window, excited to see his family. You might even smell the wonderful meal Mom is preparing for dinner. And then one day you see yellow crime scene tape and read in the paper where the husband snapped and killed them all and then himself. Yes, families are in trouble today.

Anyone that wants to get rich quick can become a life coach and help these broken families get themselves together. There is a grip of money to be had. But, is it just one man/woman's opinion that will help you get your family together? Or would it make more sense that the answer may be very simple and perhaps found in the pages of the Bible?

None of us ask for our siblings. We are just born by the same parents and grow up in a house where we are expected to love one another and get along. As little kids when we bite our sister we are told to apologize and maybe we get a spanking or made to go in the corner. But, that doesn't mean we will learn any lessons from that. All that means is that when we bite her the next time we also dare her to tell it by threatening her if she does. Now we grow up and make friends with people and all of a sudden we are so forgiving. Its almost like we waited for this opportunity to practice the things that our parents tried to teach us when we were little about how to get along with our siblings. We can hold a grudge against our siblings for years and years, but a friend can walk a track up and down our back and we just get up, brush the foot prints off and hug them.

Whole dynasties have fallen because of the breakdown of family ties. So, it is important that we learn how to be forgiving and loving and kind to those in our family. If we learn to forgive, to brush off errors, to talk things through that we cannot forget, imagine how much more powerful we all could be. How blessed will we be if we but learn to forgive. Its really quite simple. If we think about how many times we sin and how God is so willing to forgive us, then we will be able to practice that too. Not just forgive, but to also forget. That's the really hard part. To forget is very difficult for us humans. We may be able to forgive, but we just don't seem to forget. I mean when we get angry all over again we can go back to the beginning of our time with our siblings. "When I was three years old you took my babydoll and..." That would be okay if you were four now. But there are actually grown men and women that have been harboring grudges - silent ones- against family for years and years. And we keep a record of it. We can remember every single word, the date and time that it was said.

Its time to get it together!