Family

  I went home this past weekend and I started to think about how important family is to me.  For me, there is nothing like coming home and being greeted by the ones you loves.  I love going home and spending time with them.  I love everything about my dysfunctional but some how manageable and lovable family.  We are all far from perfect but no matter what either one of us does or how much trouble we get into, we always know that our family is there for us.   I know if something ever happened to anyone in my family there would be a long line of people there ready to help out and tackle any problem that needs to be solved.
  It just amazes me how God is able to put a family together.  Growing up, I never doubted my parents love for me.  My parents and I were talking the other day about how wonderful our family is and I was wondering how did God create such a great family so I started talking to my parents.  During our conversation my dad said, "Your mother and I gave both you and your brother our lives".  I started laughing and told them, "Who are you kidding? We are your lives," and then we all started laughing, because we all know it is true.  After our talk, I realized that the reason why this family is so great is because of the love that we share with God, one another, and others.
  Like an excellent parent, both of my parents have given up their lives for their children and there has never been a moment when I doubted my parents love for me.  I know that no matter what happens I always have them to lean on.  My dad is the greatest man I know and, besides my grandfather, the hardest worker I know.  My mother is one of the funniest and craziest people I know and my best friend.  My brother is just awesome, he knows what he wants, works hard, and is very smart.  We all are not perfect but we still love one another. 
  I remember when I first came to school at Lincoln Christian University and I was surprised that there were so many people who did not have a close relationship with their parents or family.  It just amazed me because I never thought there was anything "abnormal" about my family's relationship with one another, I just figured that most Christian families were as close as us.  However, I quickly learned that my family was different, we are close and we get along with one another, not all the time, but the majority of the time.  Then when we were talking as a family the other day, I realized how cool my parents really are and how even when I was in grade school, I had the coolest parents.  I had the best room parents in elementary school and even now my friends still continue to tell me how awesome my parents are. 
  According to world standards, my family has every reason to fall apart and be broken.  Not all of us are related by blood and my parents have two rebellious children.  However, we are able to stay strong in our relationships with one another because my parents encourage me and my brother to do better in life and they love us more than they love themselves.  While growing up, I had the parents who would tell me I would have to be home before all the other children and still even when I was a senior in high school I had the earliest curfew.  I can still remember my mother saying, "there is nothing good that happens after dark".   I can't count how many times my father would show up to a friend's house and embarrassingly take me home because I never called to let them know where I was or who I was with.  I just look back on those moments now and laugh, I thank God for giving me parents who love me enough to make sure I stay on the right path and who love me enough to "make me" go to church.  Without their parental guidance, I don't know where I would be.
   Building a strong family is not easy but even with all the hardships it is well worth it.  My brother and I still joke about our parents but both of us know that we would do anything for them any day and we both love them both dearly.  

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother"- which is the first commandment with a promise- "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." - Ephesians 6:1-4

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6