Family crises are unavoidable. At times, things are going to break down.

This is no reason to give up and abandon ship.

These breakdowns are the things which will strengthen our lives together if we do not lose faith.

The Einstein family had a crisis of sorts when their little boy, Albert, did not talk until he was four years old.

But what looked like a problem at first did not end up that way in the long run. 

We can expect downhill slides once in a while, and we may even start to feel full of self-pity.

With faith that these setbacks are meant to help us grow stronger, we won't waste them and end up having to face them again and again until we do recognize their true purpose.

Clearly, not all lessons are easy or pleasurable when we first encounter them, but their rewards are great if we choose to learn from them, and we can be certain that no lesson is without its reward.

Those things we need to experience, to learn, to understand, will present themselves again and again until we have attended to them.

We may choose to close our minds one time, and even close them again, but the lesson will not be put off for long.

Another experience will surround us, offering once again the opportunity necessary for the personal growth we're destined to realize.

We must trust that our lives are unfolding in ways that will evoke our full potential, and that no challenge comes that earlier lessons haven't prepared us for.