Family

Airplane tickets, rental car and a hotel, all to surprise a niece who needed some love.  That’s family.  Sixteen people surrounding a table filled with taco fixings again on a Saturday night.  That’s family.  Huddled around a medical bed singing favorite hymns as our 97 year old grandma waits for Jesus to come get her.  That’s family.  Shouting and cheering despite the freezing drizzle as she takes the ball down the sideline positioning for a score.  That’s family.  Gathered together and waiting with flowers to celebrate a stellar performance.  That’s family.  Graduations, funerals, weddings, newborns, moving vans, broken hearts, holidays and everyday together.  That’s family.

 

We inherit some because their blood courses through our veins, others join when adoptions papers are signed, some by marriage and still others we gain during the journey of life because they choose to walk with us when the miles separated us from the others.  The word family can conjures up as many different images as there are people in the world.  However, each holds the heart of those connected under its title.  What makes a family great?

 

At the forefront of great families is unconditional love.  Not one of us can avoid failing at some point in our lives.  We put our best foot forward and give it our all, but we will come up short at some point.  The beauty of family is their ability to come along side, grab your hand, help us up and wrap their arms around us in a reassuring hug that this, too, shall pass.  We need this love in our lives.  Plenty of others will judge, condemn and write us off.  Family provides shelter, encouragement and truth which helps lift us and set us on a better path.  Desiring the best for us, they spur us on to live as who we were truly created to be.  This unconditional love changes things.

 

Another component is sacrifice.  Sacrifice comes at a cost as decisions are made to benefit others in the family.  These sacrifices appear in many ways.  Time is given in conversations, acts of service, consoling, being a cheerleader and walking with each other.  Money is shared through gifts, meals, supplying needs, taking adventures and rescuing.  Energy is spent when emotions engage, physical needs are met and prayer is activated.  The costs are rarely inventoried, but real all the some.  Sacrifice is at the heart of great families.

 

The final attribute is commitment.  There are few places in this world you will find true commitment like you will in a family.  Commitment is a choice; a choice to be there no matter what.  It is about dedication and promises, not feelings and ease.  Years down the road, many friends will have come and gone, but family remains.  Despite seasons of hardship, relationship trails, harsh words spoken and hurting hearts, family is still there.  Commitment offers grace, forgiveness and love.  These make a family great.

 

Some families struggle.  Breakdowns in communicating unconditional love weaken the ties.  Selfishness makes it difficult to sacrifice what is necessary for the betterment of others.  Broken promises make the commitment seem uncertain.  The only way to combat the eroding of such important components of family is to continually chose love, sacrifice self, and commit daily.  There is great beauty in strong families.  They honor Christ.  They cultivate hope for all who are watching.  They make a difference in a world struggling to grasp what it’s all about.  Remember, choose daily and be a light to this broken world.  This is a small choice with big impact.