Squabble? What an odd word. But it happens. Daily it seems. (Sigh) It takes so much energy to deal with - wasted energy. I hate squabbles. Our homes should be peaceful havens…squabbles should be few and far between and quickly dispensed with. Right?

So how do I respond when the children come to me upset over this or that offense? I tell them to “work it out”. I don’t want to be a part of it. If I become a part of it, they both (all) lose. I take the toy, or turn off the show or end whatever game they are playing. This has been my strategy for years now…but as the children have grown and started to reason this strategy is not enough and I find myself embroiled in their squabbles – much to my dismay. So you can imagine how thankful I was when this morning I found this link to this wonderful advice on how to deal with squabbles in my inbox. Thanks so much to Spunky and her wisdom. This is truly Titus 2 in action. (Hat tip to the Homeschool Minute- sorry I don't know how to link to you.)

Just in case you are not familiar with the term (and because I love to look up words even when I know their meaning)…

Squabble - (intransitive verb) argue noisily over something unimportant, to have a petty argument over a trivial matter. (Encarta)

Squabble – (noun) petty loud argument; a noisy argument over a petty matter. (Encarta)

Note the word “petty”. As I was reading through Spunky’s tips I couldn’t help but think about how often we  – Christian adults – get into petty, maybe not loud, noisy arguments, but unimportant, unnecessary arguments none-the-less with each other.  Especially at church…over theology, over child rearing, over how things should be done, over whether or not to homeschool…sigh…

It’s heartbreaking really. How much better if we would just follow #1 or  #2 on Spunky’s list and take our offenses to the Lord first. Maybe if we did that they would cease to offend us quite so much.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Psalm 133:1