Sibling Bickering

This morning I had this idea--divinely inspired, no doubt:

As a parent, the thing that drives me MOST insane is sibling bickering, or even fighting. I'm sure that those of you who are parents agree, as did my own parents, for sure! It just makes me nuts that these precious souls, whom I love with all my heart and soul, so often seem to not feel the same love for each other, and don't always bear with each other's weaknesses, and sometimes even go so far as to tease one another! (Surely this nonsense never happens at your house, only ours, right?) Even as I write this, one darling child is punching another. Sigh.

Well, of course, that's what God thinks about us too. "Why can't they just be nice to each other," He probably thinks. I find it incredibly humbling to remember that God loves all those other people just as overwhelmingly much as He loves me. And when I think about how much I resolve to really and truly love my neighbor as myself, even when I really try, and still how hard it is to properly love others with the love of Christ, it (quite rightly) makes me so aware of how vast is the gap between my own pathetic self and God, who IS Love.

Just a little Advent reflection for a Monday morning! :)
(Now a couple of them are actually crying in the next room; I better go now...)