Not a great start. I have a healthy respect for love and karmic connections. But, the fact that Kevin ditched a pregnant girlfriend to be with Britney and that Britney chose to move forward with a man already spoken for is cause for concern. None of us can claim to know all the details, but, in general, this did not give their relationship a clean start. Even if they have managed to make peace with the mom of Kevin’s first two kids, and even if Britney was able to throw some money at the problem, it was one of the aspects that set them off on a path together that seemed shaky.

How can anyone know why two people come together in marriage? People talk a lot about true love, but it you dissected the reasons people decide to marry you will often find that many women select men based on ”potential.” Can I build a life with him? Does he get me and will he support me in what I can to do? Can I see my unborn children in his eyes? Can I get what I need from this relationship? Perhaps in the world of Britney Spears, where life was lived on stage, or trailed by paparazzi, selecting a guy who seems average as opposed to above average, and down to earth as opposed to “Hollywood” was a way to try to bring in some semblance of normality. The fact that this relationship also had to be experienced in a fishbowl couldn't have made it easy. I give her credit for making it through two years and two kids.

Leave her mothering skills alone. Really folks, who among us with children has never screwed up? Being a parent is the hardest job on the planet. The vigilance and patience required to watch a small child is phenomenal. When you are new mom, you screw up because you haven't done it before. But you usually do not have 25 photographers following you as your baby rolls off the bed when you turn for a second, or when even though you watch like a hawk the kid takes a fall at the park. Maybe some of the moments with baby caught on camera lacked common sense ... or maybe they were exaggerated views of a new mom made more nervous by circumstances. They say you make all your mistakes with your first child, so why should Britney be different?

Why is she being punished for having children? She’s entitled. She has spent most of her life entertaining us. Why would anyone begrudge her wanting to settle down, get a little fat and pregnant and have a man who loves her for who she is? Do people really think she is a bad parent? She looks to me to be a devoted and loving parent, and someone who protects her babies. Maybe she is a little too down home for some people. Maybe people feel annoyed seeing her doing normal things like pushing a stroller ... or going to Starbuck's with a baby on her hip. She’s a mommy taking care of kids. How dare people judge her?

No one knows what people are to one another. Our life paths are filled with people who meet us at certain junctures and take us to the next place. Not everyone is meant to travel the path with us forever. It doesn’t mean that what was shared should be invalidated. When Britney was on tour, feeling like she was missing life, wondering how she could grab a little piece of average living, Kevin was there. Maybe if you asked her she might say she has no regrets.

Being fabulous again. It could be she has simply had it with dumpy, poopy days of being barefoot and pregnant. We all get lost in mommying, and then, we return from the front lines and star showering again and wearing make up. Britney’s career and image took a hit during this marriage and maybe now she wants to reclaim herself. She’s had a couple of marriages, so maybe it is out of her system. She’s had a couple of kids, and now maybe her family is in place. She’s been walking around, slightly askew and pregnant for a couple of years, and now maybe she’s made a statement. I think she must feel it is time to be fabulous again and that she can do it as a single mom! Remember Madonna’s pre-Guy Ritchie days? Nothing was better for her career than divorcing Sean Penn, she came alive and came back better than ever! Madonna – Britney’s role model – had also blended herself into a marriage and kept her own personality at a low profile in the Sean Penn era. She looked frumpy. Perhaps Britney modeled that, and now that it is done, she can move on.

Maybe they will separate like menches. Perhaps the day will come when the trashing begins (he says, she says) or perhaps we will surprised as we see co-parenting and a not-too-hideous divorce.

I would like to see Britney fabulous again. Not for us, but for herself. I am not even a big fan of her music, but it has disturbed me to see her used as a media punching bag.

My prayer for her is:

May she be a confident single mom.

May she find a good way to co-parent her children with their dad.

May she rock that svelte post-pregnant body and feel gorgeous and goddess-like.

May she be back in her power and become even more personally powerful!

May she be spiritually and emotionally strong.

And when she is ready, may she find a love that truly touches her heart with a man who adores her and her children.

May Kevin and Britney both make amends with Kevin’s first two kids and their mom, and get a clean slate to work with when love comes around next time.

© 2006, Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is an interfaith and non-denominational wedding officiant and columnist. She creates unique ceremonies for couples of all backgrounds and faiths, and is also widely recognized as a bridal stress expert. She is author of WEDDING GODDESS: A Divine Guide To Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss (Perigee Books, May 2005). Visit Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway at WeddingGoddessWisdom.com.