New Family Rule Alert!

“The sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’” Proverbs 22:13

Dead stop. That’s the whole verse!

When I was in high school, a youth group friend of mine cut up over this Bible verse. Hard.

You know how teenage girls can be… Just mercilessly making jokes over things they don’t understand apply perfectly to them!

As I’ve (hopefully…at least in some ways…) matured a bit, this Proverb has never failed to strike a chord with me! 

My paraphrase is this: There’s a problem, you guys!. Like…a REAL problem! And it’s super bad!

If this is your attitude, you’re not bringing one single action step or suggestion to take care of the problem or find a solution. You’re just bringing the problem to someone else in hopes that they’ll agree and then take action so you don’t have to.

Do you see how this plays into family life? The Lion Rule is the new perfect rule for summer!

Let’s empower our people to live by The Lion Rule! 

If you see a problem, do what you can to figure out a solution. 

If you can see the whole thing through from problem to solution, I will be first in line to celebrate that! You did it!

If you need to involve someone else, bring both the problem and a potential solution to the other family member. 

That’s it. 

I’m about empowerment. I’m about sharing the workload. Some of us are exhausted because we have positioned ourselves as needing to be part of every solution. But we don’t have to shoulder the mental load or energetic burden of finding a solution!

The internet exists, you guys. It’s a real thing! Everybody can Google their way to finding a solution for today’s so-called emergency.

Let’s get these folks scanning for solution finding. Whether it’s a relational issue, bed time negotiations, or the leaky dishwasher. 

Use The Lion Rule to help empower your family this summer!

If you want bonus points, teach them this lyric to go with it…

If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.

PS, I co-wrote a 30 day family devotional that you can purchase here if you haven’t!