Sink Holes

I don't know how to adequately describe the time in this house or how much the support of this family has meant to me and changed my life. Some of us have called the last three months the honey-moon period. The house is new, the people wonderful, and the neighborhood charming and exciting. No matter what we faced, it seemed inconceivable that the situation would not have a solution. But now we are beginning to see we will be growing with each other in a new way.

Over the last couple weeks things have shifted. Issues in the house and issues with each other that we have not given enough attention to are piling up. Communication, expectations, selfless and proactive service, goals, conflicting lifestyles, priorities, openness and honesty -- these issues continue to come to the forefront of our relationships. How do we confront each other? When do we confront each other? Do we confront each other? How do we connect with the personalities least like ours? How do we actively love in spite of the things that annoy us? When we have so much confusion and difficulty surrounding our personal lives, how do we keep the focus off ourselves? And how do we keep our problems from affecting those relationships?

At the top, on the blog heading, Jeff wrote that this is a "project... trying to be a semi-functional family". So far, we've done pretty well, but this house is at a cross-roads and it's left with a decision. Will we put in the work necessary to invest in each other, support each other, continue to work towards our goals, try to heal the wounds we inflict on each other, and be a genuine loving family, or will we choose the easy route - complacent, surface-level, just some good times, buddies?

I'm not trying to paint a morbid picture of the state of the house, because things on the surface are still going very well. But hidden underneath, are problems that could do a lot of damage and separate us if they are not dealt with. I know the desire of our hearts is to work through this time, to fight for each other and for something bigger and more beautiful than ourselves.