I am Thankful for Family

My husband and I have been married for 56 years. We raised five children and are blessed to love 11 grandchildren. They are the ones I love the deepest and pray for the longest. Rich and I are each one of five children which gives us a wide spectrum of nieces and nephews, near and far, whom I also love and pray for. In this large family, not one is perfect. Not one is without problems. Some have distanced themselves. But they are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

Additionally, my “family” extends beyond those numbered above. I have friends who have walked beside me in my happiest experiences and through my greatest sorrows. They have balanced me and cheered me on. They have overlooked my flaws and embraced me in my inadequacies. They know me at my worst but believe the best for me. They are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

Then there is my church, which proclaims, “This is home. We are family.” And so they are. We are united in faith, merged in worship, and joined in love. It’s a large church so I only know a small fraction of the people, but I can walk up to any one of them on a Sunday morning for a hug or a prayer. It is a safe place where together we learn and grow, give and receive, fall and get up. They are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

In the broadest sense, I have “family” all around me, walking my neighborhood and circling the globe. Whether they acknowledge it or not, we are our brothers’ keepers and all trace back to Adam. Therefore I will pray for them, care for them, and support them as I am able. I will resist pigeonholing and refuse name calling because each one was made in the image of God—they too are “my people.”

You may not have a large (or loving) family but we are not meant to do life alone. I encourage you to stretch. Reach out and touch someone. Be a blessing. And be thankful for whomever God has given you.