We have been reading as a family the book Practical Happiness: A Young Man's Guide to a Contented Life by Bob Schultz as part of our family devotion time. At the end of yesterday's reading I read just the title of today's reading , which was "Jerks". We all smiled and chuckled and wondered what that would be about.

Well, we were in for a treat.  The author writes "After decades of watching families, I've discovered a trait that appears in every successful home. I'm convinced that no matter how great the family, without this particular element, they will have a serious fall. The common thread running through successful families is this: there's a jerk in every one of them. Not only is there a jerk in every family, in the top notch families every member is a jerk! (Emphasis mine.)

After peels of laughter from all of us, we read on...

"the wonder of Christianity, the good news of the gospel, is that a bunch of jerks can learn to love each other. They can stick up for one another, forgive each other, and cover for the other's mistakes. A pack of jerks, under the influence of God's Spirit, lives in harmony and accomplishes many useful and good works together." page 28.

"Loving jerks is basic Christianity. It's God's heart. A family who loves sinners, especially those in their own home, experience joy in the middle of problems. They know the security that comes with acceptance in the midst of failure." page 29

How encouraging to know we have a faithful God who loves us and hears our prayers. May the Lord bless this family of jerks as we learn to love each other.

Blessings,

Audrey