But last night I got a slight slap in the face (metaphorically), and as I looked at my parents as we were sitting together, I realized how absolutely blessed I am to have my family. I was so consumed by this thought, that I can't even honestly say I remember what we were praying about (my apologies God :) ). For I don't know how long, I took those moments for granted, waiting for them to end so I could get back to what I was doing and to pray by myself..as if I couldn't do that if we had already prayed as a family. Now though, I don't get to experience this but every few months or so when I come home during school breaks, and I can see how much I have missed it, and how crucial it has been to keeping my own faith alive and growing. I know that if our faith in Christ and the solid foundation he's been in our family wasn't there, I wouldn't be even close to where I am today and I don't know if I even would still be able to call myself a true follower of Christ, but more than likely just going through the motions.
That said, I am so so so grateful and thankful for the family I have. Relationships, of any sort, are the greatest gift from God; of those, I believe, family is at the top. All often I think we get preoccupied with wishing we were like that other family, or if so-and-so were more like him/her, then our family would be better. But if that was how it should've been, then God would've done that the first time. It is still so amazing to me, the concept of family and how we had no control over it, but that our God chose to put us together knowing that we were what each other needed. You have refiners and nurturers, parents and children, all working together under one roof. And how much stronger is a family that is rooted in the Bible and in prayer, constantly in fellowship. Even when things are challenging, the foundation is already there and it keeps a family grounded.
In Proverbs 27 it says that "as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another." How applicable is this to family?? When I look at my parents and my sister and how God has worked through our lives individually and together, I can see that in each moment we share we are being sharpened and at the same time we are sharpening each other.
The 4 of us all bring something different to the table, whether it's our personality, our upbringing, or some wisdom we've recently acquired. This has never failed to make some great conversations, some more deep and serious, others joyous and light-hearted, and still even others that are just down-right funny (as my father would put it :) ) Either way, whether it has been a good day or a bad day, when we sit down at the dinner table or when they call me while I'm away at school, we always have our relationship with our Savior that keeps us strong, apart and together.
We're all terrible planners, none of us have a spontaneous bone in our bodies, but the one vacation we can all agree on is anywhere with a theme park. All of us love being home more than anywhere else. We all drink our fair share of coffee, and have a problem with people-watching. We've acquired a new taste for the tv show Friends, and know that when dad says 'hey, let's do a quick Bible study,' we're gonna be there for awhile. :) We all have a bit of sarcasm in our genes, it's just what we do, it keeps life fun and makes us a little more humble. :)
But, all in all, they've taught me more about love, joy, commitment, patience, dedication, hard work, and what it means to live a life for Christ, than I would have ever learned in an entire lifetime without them. I love and appreciate them more than they'll ever know, and if I've grown up to be anything like any of them....that's definitely ok with me :)
.....♥ C
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