The Gift of Family

I can hear some of you ohhhhhhing and ahhhhhhhhing while others cringe because of your bad experiences. The truth is God made families to be a blessing to one another. We know that sometimes families have real difficulty walking in that blessing, and we will deal with that reality in more detail later.

When I first held my firstborn in my arms it seemed like time had stopped and life was all about him and how my husband and I would be everything he needed to grow up feeling loved and accepted. What an overwhelming feeling it is to realize you have a little ones life in your hands. As my youngest is fininishing 12th grade that is still our aim. We were blessed to have both our families be a comfort through life's ups and downs. It might not have went that way without God. When I first married John it took some getting used to his family and how they did things. They are people with a plan and a purpose. Vacations were planned a year in advance with the proper tent sight laborously sought and found, the menu plan completed or at least talked about in detail, and the cookies divided evenly round the campfire. My family planned to plan on the way. Wow, can you imagine the planner guy marrying the girl from the plan as you go family? Now that is not to say we didn't plan anything...we always had food on the table and clothes on our back. Now we are a combination of both worlds taking the best and sometimes the worst of each extreem. One thing both my husband and my father have in commom is the fear of being late. As a child we would always be teh first to arrive, I prefer to be on time but no more than 10 minutes early. A family is a mix of emotions, opinions, lives, and God given destiny to be a comfort and blessing to the others. We contribute who we are to others. God didn't make a cookie cutter of Adam when he made Eve. Yes, he made the same species, but He allowed for differences. The blending of a famiy gives the proper atmosphere for children to learn to deal with situations outside with respect and concern. This subject is huge. YOu see we can attend church, know the proper language and activity of the church world, but miss out on realizing that proper family relationships are a spiritual matter. God spoke a wonderful word that shows that even those who feel like they have no one to call family can be included somehow somewhere in a human family that God prepares. Psalms 68:6" God sets the solitary in families;"NKJV

Have you ever felt out in the cold with no one who really cared or have you ever felt smotherd by a host of family members? Remember we humans are not perfect, but God will give us people for our lives. We cherish them for as long as they are here upon this earth. They are a gift that has a price tag far beyond the greatest amount of money.