How to talk to your family in the midst of personal crisis

[MelodyJane]

Thankfully I have not personally had to deal with cancer, but I watched the movie Until Forever earlier this week and it was a really moving story on how we need to guide our families to continue placing our trust in God even in the midst of turmoil. The producers wrote a great article about it and I'm trying to keep these lessons in mind for both the mountains and the molehills in our lives.

How do you talk to your family when life is becoming difficult?

 

[JAM2b]

I just tell them the truth in the most age appropriate way possible. I'm direct. I don't fluff it up. I stick to facts. But I don't tell them anything that would not be beneficial for them to hear or any details that might confuse or traumatize them more than they have to be.

 

[blackribbon]

I tell the truth so that they know I can be trusted in the future as well as now. I also open the conversation to questions so that I don't have to guess how much they want/need to know. When I had to tell my kids that their daddy was actively dying, I really believe that God talked through me. I was later told that everyone (family members) was standing around listening as I explained to both kids what was going on (that daddy had suddenly gotten very sick with his cancer and was dying), what to expect (that he wasn't able to talk anymore and I described what they would see when they went into the hospital room where he was), and what I was asking them to do (which was to go tell Daddy that they loved him and to give him permission to let go if it got too hard or painful to stay with us.)