What is a family?
A family is love. It is the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you and love you unconditionally.
Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
I came across this poem.
“Our Family”
United by the sorrows and joys
That bind us… We are one.
One family, riding the roller coaster of life…
Surviving the ups and downs with “relative sanity,”
Never really knowing what’s around the bend.
One family… sharing our space,
Our opinions, our hopes, our dreams,
Our fears and disappointments.
Cheering each other on…
Through the best of times,
And putting up with the worst
In each other.
One family…through thick and thin,
Remaining steadfast and true,
Loving each other the way
That families do…
With the kind of love
That grows stronger every day,
Even in the face of adversity…
The kind of love that is…
And always will be…
Forever!
Family is for life; but like a tree branch, we all grow in different directions.
As in our family, three out of the four of our children have ventured out into different directions; based on college and careers, three of our grown children have taken up residence outside of Ohio.
Our oldest daughter, who attended UNLV, has a job working for the magician Criss Angel, which has kept her in Las Vegas. Our son, who is a wilderness therapist, has fallen in love with the mountains of Utah. And our middle daughter has always said that when she grew up that she would move to California, and she has enjoyed her career working for start-ups and non-profits in San Francisco.
We miss them dearly, but at least they have all chosen fun places for my husband, myself, and our youngest daughter to visit. They find their way back home to the great Midwest as often as they can.
As we always get excited and await the arrival of our kids coming home, we know that Jesus will return to take us home to be in Heaven with him for eternity.
We need to be ready. We need to live our lives as he is coming back soon.
We need to be mindful that the most important relationship in our lives is the one we have with God.
I encourage you to seek God by praying often. Perhaps, join a bible study group and spend time reading the bible.
We have some great churches and wonderful pastors in the area that can assist you in growing in your faith.
Veronica Grabill is Chaplain & Volunteer Services Manager at Clinton Memorial Hospital in Wilmington.
This weekly column is provided to the News Journal by members of the Wilmington Area Ministerial Association.
