Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better off than one . . . If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him” (GNT). 

There are three storms that we need to care for those we care about. The first is change. Another storm of life is what I call harmful ideas.

But the most painful storm of all is rejection. When your friend, your children, or your husband or your wife feels rejected, you—and others close to them—need to rally around them and be there as a raincoat in the storm.

I’ll never forget many years ago when my oldest child, Amy, was in high school. She tried out to be a cheerleader. She went to practice after practice. Her friends got accepted, but she was rejected, and it broke her heart. When she came home, she ran into her room, went into her closet, sat down on the floor, and burst into tears.

Every one of us in our family could hear Amy crying. And one by one, all on our own, we ended up walking into her room, sitting down on the floor in her closet with her, and crying with her.

We didn’t give her any advice. She didn’t need advice! We didn’t say, “Now now, don’t worry. It’s not a big deal.” It was a big deal! We didn’t say, “Don’t cry!” That’s a stupid thing to say to somebody who’s grieving. No. We all just sat there and for about 30 minutes just cried with her.

Our family will never forget that incident. Why? Because at that point, we were being a raincoat for her. We were being a storm catcher. We were being a protector. Somebody in our family had been hurt, and we weren’t demeaning it. We weren’t trying to talk her out of it. We weren’t trying to cheer her up. We just wept with her.

Awesome families—biological, adoptive, and spiritual—protect each other in the storm.