One of the definitions of family is "all the descendants of a common ancestor." When I read that I think, we are all God's children. We spend so much time in our lives building and growing relationships. Some of us are blessed with a wonderful support system and some of us are not. God asks us to love one another, lift up one another, bear each other's burdens. I've always looked at my support network as more than just my direct relatives. The world is suffering too much not to.
What I've learned as my time as an imperfect husband, father, brother, cousin, nephew, and follower of Jesus is that "family" really means "the people you can rely on in good and bad times." And God wants us to be that for our brothers and sisters of this world.
I now have a blended family, which I don't really like calling it that. Because it's the world's definition. We're simply, a family. We love each other wholeheartedly. We support each other, we council together, we worship together, we celebrate each other. Are we perfect at being kind to one another? Not always. But we work hard for what we have. And we have a perfect example to follow in Jesus.
Parenthood is complicated but beautiful. As my wife stepped into this role of motherhood that was probably not her ideal situation and has had its own set of challenges, she has emulated a pure love of Christ. Is it hard?
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