Family

The current lectionary that the UMC follows has been focusing on the book of Genesis. Genesis is an interesting book of stories of how the people of God came to be. One can take all of the stories very literally or we can see what the meaning behind each of them says about family, God and the strength of people.

When God made the first covenant with Abraham he was asked to go away from his home, to a land that would be his. That God would protect his family and fulfill all of God's promises as long as Abraham was a faithful follower. The lineage continues for many generations and God's promises continue all the way though.

The interesting part to me is the brokenness of the God's "family". How incredibly torn apart they are just trying to make their way in a world that seemed to be against them. They failed a lot. Did things they weren't sure they should do but did it all to fulfill the promises made to God. God also threw in this whole freewill thing which got the best of some of them yet somehow most of them turned back to God in time of need and pain. God promised to never abandon them and fulfilled that promise.

When I think about the "original" family, I can't help but compare them to my own. My mom has a sign that hangs in her house that says "remember we are a nice, normal family"

The truth is my family is just that. Nice and normal. We never really fell off the path of normalcy. We had our ups and downs and struggles but overall we were a strong family unit. I credit a lot of that to my parents and the way that they raised us. We were raised in the church and given the foundation of faith. I obviously continue to follow that foundation and am grateful that my parents gave me the understanding of what a loving God can do for you in times of struggle.

We recently added a new member to the family, Carly. Carly is absolutely perfect for my brother and I can't imagine him with anyone else. I had the honor of assisting with their wedding last month and tears filled my eyes as I watched my brothers' bride walk toward him. Evan has been through it. He is likely the one you would compare to in the "original" family that strayed away from the family for awhile yet came back and is better than he has ever been. As I stood and watched the smile on his face my heart filled with such joy. For a young man that has endured so much pain and struggle in his life, I know that God brought Carly to him. Carly and Evan may look at differently- perhaps the universe or the divine or coincidence brought them together but to me that is God.

God made promises to each of us and those promises were to never leave us. Even when we stray away, even when we don't believe in God, even when we are angry at God, even when we just want to run the other direction. Just like the original family of the Bible each member of my own family has struggled with our relationships with God. But they are still there. Death, addiction, financial issues have caused us all heartache. God never promised anyone it would be easy but did promise to never leave us.

My new fascination with the original family is very much tied to love I have with my own family. I think they are a great example of what it means to be a family. The struggled, they strayed away from God and they didn't think they could handle the tasks at hand but somehow they did. They were faithful people that led their people to a land that God promised to them. They were faithful people that when told to do something by God did it even if it would cause division and pain among their own. They didn't give up on each other and they never gave up on God.

Family is hard but family is love. When you have a strong foundation like my family does, nothing can tear you apart. Nothing will separate us b/c in the end we know that we are all we really have. That each of us brings something different to the family and each of us is following our own paths and dreams. Yet, I believe that at the center of it is God. A God that won't abandon us, that will walk with us on whatever journeys we make in this life and a God that loves us beyond what we could ever imagine.

Family is my heart and strength and the Bible can really teach us about that. Now, don't get me wrong there are some pretty crazy things in there the families do to each other, I am not saying we should attempt to sacrifice each other, steal each others birthrights, marry our wives sister or anything like that. I am simply saying that this original family can teach us all that family is family and when you have a connection to your family that is based in God nothing can tear you apart.

Welcome to the family, Carly. We love you and hope you know that you are officially a part of the Loud Family.