There are those who would argue that family is a group of genetically connected people who share common history and lineage. Others might say that Family are those people you go to in trouble, the kind whose unconditional love guides us through the hard times and celebrates the good times.
Growing up, I always had family around me. Like any other family, there were dysfunctions, laughter, tears, and that somewhat uncomfortable feeling of being in a room full of poeple you don't know as people but feel a connction to. Every Christmas, thanksgiving and Easter, we would gather like actors on a stage and catch up and joke and argue like families, but for the most part spent very little time together in between. Some of the reason for this was geography, some of it was circumstance, but we would still come together, mostly in honour of my grandmother who was truly the Matriarch of the family. In recent years, however, my family is more scattered, my parents divorced, and the older generation all are in nursing homes.
If we had limited ourselves to the traditional definition of Family every holiday would be 2 or 3 people sitting around a table wishing for others to be part of our celebration. But we made a choice a few years ago, that we would actively seek out those who also had limited family in the city and invite them out.
In doing this, I have had the amazing privilege to spend time with people I might not have connected with. Once you share a holiday meal with someone, that person is always connected to you..... like family! In this way, I have found a network of people who will allow me to be me, and care about my joys and my tears. There is safety in the love of family.
I love that God's crowd is a family. We don't need to share interests, or history, rather it is the different history and the different interests that makes things interesting. But when it all comes down to it... we do share something so valuable....
We are all sinners saved by the Grace of God, through the death of Christ on the cross. What better common ground is there?
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2 comments:
Oh Laura this is so lovely. Rick and I have been blessed by God to have 4 lovely children to share our lives with. Once or twice a year Ricks parents bless us with their visit and we get to share a meal or two with them. It is a special time for us. We have been given this computer last summer and I can email my dad and step mom so I feel a bit more of a connection with them and I am thankful for that as well. None of our families live here in Ottawa so we have been quite isolated over the years. Now that we are part of a local Church TLC, we have felt a connection that we didn't have before and it is growing stronger over the years. Is this what it is like to be surrounded by FAMILY? The FAMILY of GOD! What a blessing. What a responsibility. Oh what vulnerability and what strength my family and I are blessed with to be a part of this forever family!
Hey Laura!
Thats amazing that you share a traditional family gathering with those who don't have the luxury of having a family... that's what sets you apart from others, you truly have a heart of gold!
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