That quote “Stress and hurry squeeze the life out of relationships” reminds me of a similar idea from the book *The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry*— it says that hurry kills relationships, and all that we hold dear: marriage, family, creativity, generosity: hurry is not just a disordered schedule, but a disordered heart.
''A disordered heart'' - much more powerful to put it like that. A friend said recently that busyness is the enemy of thoughtfulness - no time for reflection, contemplation or listening.
I think the sentence that stood out most me on this time was the description of the Amish as having a sense of contented identity. I can see that having that this time around as I parented Iris gave me more of the Fruits of the Spirit and the time and openness to allow her to be the person God created. Not as rushed, not as determined to be and do it all my way. Being content in my life and the way my home worked was the key to that.
Fruit of the Spirit, time & openness, not rushed & not out to do things my way - I think grandchildren have a special place in our lives that allows us to be more objective than we were with our own children. I look back over my relationship with my eldest especially and now that she has children I feel like I have an opportunity to love them & perhaps show my daughter how much I love her through the relationship I have with her children. I didn't really know how to express that love very well to her back then. Don't know if that makes sense but it's been a balm for me.
It makes perfect sense to me. There is more gentleness in my relationship with my daughter now, with her being a Mum to another little baby that did not need me to raise it. They do see our tenderness and involvement with the grandchildren and it smooths the way.
That quote “Stress and hurry squeeze the life out of relationships” reminds me of a similar idea from the book *The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry*— it says that hurry kills relationships, and all that we hold dear: marriage, family, creativity, generosity: hurry is not just a disordered schedule, but a disordered heart.
''A disordered heart'' - much more powerful to put it like that. A friend said recently that busyness is the enemy of thoughtfulness - no time for reflection, contemplation or listening.
That's a great way to think about it too. Hurry is costly!
I think the sentence that stood out most me on this time was the description of the Amish as having a sense of contented identity. I can see that having that this time around as I parented Iris gave me more of the Fruits of the Spirit and the time and openness to allow her to be the person God created. Not as rushed, not as determined to be and do it all my way. Being content in my life and the way my home worked was the key to that.
Fruit of the Spirit, time & openness, not rushed & not out to do things my way - I think grandchildren have a special place in our lives that allows us to be more objective than we were with our own children. I look back over my relationship with my eldest especially and now that she has children I feel like I have an opportunity to love them & perhaps show my daughter how much I love her through the relationship I have with her children. I didn't really know how to express that love very well to her back then. Don't know if that makes sense but it's been a balm for me.
It makes perfect sense to me. There is more gentleness in my relationship with my daughter now, with her being a Mum to another little baby that did not need me to raise it. They do see our tenderness and involvement with the grandchildren and it smooths the way.