Family.
Until a handful of years ago, the definition of family would have been fairly narrow for me…..parents, siblings, husband, kids….and dogs and cats. Funny how, sometimes, God expands your world in order to enlarge your heart. Yes, family still looks like this:
May 2004 ~ The Colwell Family
July 2013
The Adams Family – 2011
Greg, Leah, Charlie, and Bree
But family also looks like this:
Bree and Emily
Art-Tastic! for Bree’s birthday.
And this:
The Blairs – My precious friends. Charles has gone on to be with Jesus, but Betty and I still talk weekly.
And this:
Tuesday Bible study girls
Cindy and me at the Great Pyraminds.
Family is more than the small cluster of individuals into which you are born. Family is a group of people who care about and love one another. They care deeply and love sacrificially. Family, hopefully, walks in when the world walks out. They pray and give and surround. Family sees you at your best and at your worst…and loves you anyway.
I did not give birth to either Charlie or Bree, but they are my kids, my heart, my loves. They are my family just as surely as if I had birthed them.
I was blessed with wonderful parents who were married for 46 years. We were not a perfect family, but it was good. I am equally blessed with amazing in-laws. They love me and I love them like crazy.
My Tuesday morning small group of ladies is another family to which I belong. We have studied God’s Word together for 15 solid years, and prayed for each other through the storms of life. We have rejoiced together at graduations, weddings, births, and pot luck lunches. They are my sisters, and a super important part of my life.
My friend, Cindy, and her husband, Robert, are not only dear friends, but I consider them family. We have walked through many life experiences together, and we treasure them deeply. My friends, Charles and Betty Blair, have been special people to me. I met them through the pharmacy I worked at when we moved back home. Over the years our friendship deepened, and has been such a blessing. Sweet Charles went home to be with Jesus earlier this year, but Betty is still a wonderful part of my life.
There are a handful of incredible young adults that I consider to be family. They are friends of Bree’s from her days at Young Harris College. They have tucked their knees under my table many times, and more than a few have laid their heads on my pillows. I love them and pray for them and am so blessed do life with them.
Family. I am one blessed woman.
Linking up today with Kate Motaung for Five Minute Friday. Today’s prompt is FAMILY.
