“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.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (GNT)

Relationships are like a raincoat during the storms of life. When friends or family members go through a storm, you help each other. People committed to one another protect each other in the storm.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 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).

Life brings all kinds of storms, and you’ll need to protect your loved ones through them. Sometimes those storms are seasons of change; other times they come as harmful influences.

But the most painful storm of all is rejection. When your friend, your child, or your spouse feels rejected, you—and others close to them—need to rally around them and act as a raincoat in the storm.

Many years ago, my oldest child, Amy, was in high school. She tried out to be a cheerleader. She went to practice after practice for the tryouts. Eventually, 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.

Everyone 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, and crying with her.

We didn’t give her any advice; she didn’t need advice. We didn’t say, “Don’t worry. It’s not a big deal.” It was a big deal! We didn’t say, “Don’t cry!” That’s an insensitive thing to say to somebody who’s grieving. Instead, we all sat there for about 30 minutes and just cried with her.

Our family will never forget that experience. Why? Because, at that point, we were being a raincoat for Amy. We were being storm catchers. We were being protectors. 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.