Family

by Peggy Brown

We had a great Thanksgiving! Wayne and I traveled to Seattle to have Thanksgiving with Debbie, Matt, Seth and Bekka Weeks at our daughter Bethany’s little apartment. Bethany invited her boyfriend Chuck, and he and Seth invited their army buddy Tim. I confess that when we left, I wasn’t sure how everything was going to turn out (imagine three 20ish boys deciding to deep fry the Thanksgiving turkey for the first time…it gives one pause!) I figured it would either be great fun or a great disaster! Nine people in a small apartment eating a deep fried turkey and Marie Callender’s sides on paper plates in a living room with very little furniture could be a bit dicey. Well, it WAS great fun! We all were entertained watching Matt, Wayne and “the boys” out the window as they fried the Turkey and baptized the driveway with boiling oil. We also enjoyed eating the fried onion rings, Snicker bars and (not so much) the Twinkies. I guess once the oil is hot, why not try frying everything? The food was delicious, the fellowship sweet. (Thanks Debbi for bringing the folding chirs and games!)

What I loved about the day was the family feel, even though there were a variety of relationships. Some of us were already friends (the Weeks), some were acquaintances (Chuck) and one we met that day when he showed up (Tim); but what we all had in common was our love for Jesus. In a very real way, it felt like we had known one another for a long time.

I thought about how often we are called the family of God and brothers and sisters in Christ in the Bible, so I went to a Concordance and looked up “brothers and sisters in Christ”. Here are just some of the 12 pages of references I found:

Rom. 8:29- For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.

Gal. 6:10- Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.

I Thes. 1:4- We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, and that He chose you to be His own people.

I Peter 1:22- Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News. So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.

1 Peter 5:9- Take a firm stand against (Satan), and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

I John 3:16- We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.

Our Thanksgiving experience reminded me that I am related to ALL other believers. Some I know well, some not so well. Maybe there are even some that I’d rather NOT know! But God is quite clear…we are spiritual siblings, He loves us and He wants us to love one another. Love needs time and relationship to grow and be strengthened. That means I have to work at it! Challenged? I am!

God, You have adopted me into Your family. You have given me brothers and sisters to love and live in relationship with. Please teach me to prioritize relationships over busy-ness of life. Amen

Family

Family
by Kate Hasson

Wow! It has been a crazy, crazy past week and a half. My youngest brother’s high school graduation brought out my pregnant sister and her husband from Kansas and my college brother from Arizona, and other dear extended relatives. My other sister has been home for a few weeks since graduating college so in total that means that all seven of us plus husbands and babies have been together once again after quite a time of being in our separate ways. What a reunion!!! We’ve been soaking up every moment possible thus my poor girls haven’t gotten a full night’s rest for quite sometime and our day nap and other schedules have been quite messed up. But despite it all it has been glorious and well cherished. Who knows when this will happen again?

My sister and her husband leave this morning, and my brother is already back at school. My other sister leaves in under 2 weeks to move to Minnesota and my next brother will be leaving after summer for his first year of college. It’s all going by so quickly. The moments of togetherness that I looked so eagerly forward to, are already halfway gone and I hate to think of how quickly the rest will go.

God created family. What a beautiful creation, an atmosphere in which to love and be loved unconditionally; just as He does for us. It’s amazing how much I love “this creation” and yet tend to forget to thank the Father, the Creator, for it. I love my family with all my heart, but do I love my Creator more for gifting me with them? He says, “Whoever loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

I must remember that this, my life and my joy, would all be not without His hand. He is the one to be most loved and treasured and cherished because oh, how He has given me a wonderful family. Thank you, God! I love You! To You be all glory and honor and praise for a fabulous past week with my dears, and even more for a whopping 26 years of joy with them all.