Family. Patience. Conflict. Prayer.

Family. I love mine. All of it. I have a big one too. Well, not big if compared to the average Menonite or Jewish family. But big compared to a lot of the people I know. There's Derek and I. In my world, this is the nucleus of my family. As it should be. He is the husband. I'm the wife. We're the mommy and the daddy, even though other people can't see our children. We're the man and the woman.

Next generation:
We have my daddy. He is married to "my Kelly." My dad is strong. He's brave. He's wise. He's intelligent. He's a Godly man. He raised me. Fathered me. Played a huge role in me surviving events that might otherwise have been my undoing as a child. "My" Kelly is strong, too. She's a good woman. A Godly one. A woman who understands what commitment is. With Kelly come my two (step) brothers and my (step) sister. They are all different from me and from eachother. All people that the world is better because of. All people I love.

We have my mom. She's a loving, passionate woman. A woman I love very much. A woman who has made mistakes and still found courage to keep on keeping on.

We have Derek's daddy. He is married to Derek's mommy. Derek's dad is a good man. He's intelligent. He's loving. He's generous. He's a man of comittment. He raised my husband. And since my husband is an absolutely amazing man, I am so thankful for that. We have Derek's mommy. She loves God. She loves us. She is... passionate. Dramatic. Intense. Greek. Definately Greek. I love her. I am thankful she's my mother-in-law. We have Derek's sister, Cari. And her husband, Joel. I love them, too.

On top of that, we have grandparents. We have uncles. Aunts. Cousins. Friends. More distant relatives. A church that is as much our family as those related by blood.

We've also been given a gift. A gift of sacrifice, giving, love, labor, patience, and much selflessness. A gift where our two daddies are instrumental. A gift that will result in Derek and I owning our own home. First home. And it will be, if not very large, very comfortable. And nice. It's been a long haul to do this project. Not fun. Not easy. But rewarding.

Here's the problem. Our two daddies. Both of them have very valid, and in our eyes, correct, view points. One wants to push hard, get things done, get us out of construction mode and into home-owning safe-living mode. He's smart. He can do things "right" as well as the other dad. He is impatient, wanting things done now. He wants to protect our interests. He wants to help us have the house we want. He thinks the other dad is wrong, of inferior intelligence, and is very frustrated with him.
The other one wants to meticulously complete every step. He wants to get us out of construction mode and into home-owning, safe-living mode. He's smart. He can do things well. He is almost too patient - working so slowly that progress sometimes seems to be non-existent, but also doing everything he can to make sure all is done the "right way." He wants to protect our interests. He wants to help us have the house we want. He thinks the other dad is wrong, of inferior intelligence, and is very frustrated with him.

So. We have two dads. Who used to get along. They liked each other. They enjoyed each other's company. They looked forward to contact. Their relationship was not all that strong or deep, but was easy. It was easy for us. We didn't have any warring in-laws. Now, that's not true. They don't like each other. They look down on one another. They argue. Fight. Dread being in the same place at the same time. We dread it too. We don't want to choose one. Pick sides. We don't want to get in the middle. We don't know what to say or what to do. We just know we love them both, want to know both, want to relate to both. And we're afraid of what this project will do to that. So if you would, please pray? Pray for wisdom. Pray for safety. Preservation. Pray that we would do the right thing.