Know which hills to die on and which to walk away from

Know which hills to die on and which to walk away from

There are absolutes in life.  There is absolute truth. 

There are standards that should never change or move.  There are rules, behaviors, attitudes, etc. that should remain fixed.  However, in the context of raising kids there are also guidelines and rules that can be flexible, gray, or malleable at the appropriate time.

Case in point:

On Sunday mornings getting ready and driving to church you kids could get away with much more slack behavior, conflicts with each other, etc. than at other times.  We intentionally would dissipate conflicts in a manner that didn't meet them head on, which most likely would have caused more conflicts or a negative state of mind.  Why?  Because just like preparing for a sporting or musical event or contest it's best to be in the right frame of mind for church.  Having a lousy attitude, being mad at your parents, brothers, etc. is a lousy way to go into church to worship God, learn about him, and minister to others.  We could have met the little conflicts in the car head on and turned them into much larger conflicts, but the situation called for a different response because of a larger need.

Don’t die on the wrong hill.