This weekend my aunt and uncle came down to spend Easter with my family. I hadn't seen them in 10 years...yes 10! Quite a few years back they moved from San Fransisco to Italy and so it has been FOREVER since we've seen each other. It was really awkward at first because I'd only spoken to them maybe once a year on Christmas, but by Friday (i.e. the next day) morning--it was comfortable. They are family and you will always have your family. As I revisit this seemingly obvious truth, I've found that I don't value family enough.
My dad and my uncle Randy are the only family they have left (besides us) and they hadn't seen each other in 8 years. Yes they talk more often than once a year, but there is just something wrong with this picture. Now that my uncle has cancer I think both my dad and my uncle have realized that they need to make more of an effort to stay connected. Family is huge and I saw the power of that this weekend in the little conversations and in the joy that came from just catching up and learning about each other and our lives. As I grow older and start to look ahead (esp. as I am starting to plan for the new family that I will be forming with Josh), the more I see that family is more than the people who you spend time with because you have to or the people who never called just to wish you a happy birthday or didn't send you a single gift since you were 10 years old, but that family is an opportunity to
love without conditions. I'd been bitter about the past and the lack of relationship I'd had with them, but I felt prompted to let that go and move past the issues of the past. It was really freeing to release that and to start over and view them through a lens of love and compassion.
I saw God really working in the family interactions, discussions, and 3 hour long meals we shared. Even though it had been years, there was no fluff or surface level conversations, but deep, intimate discussion arose. In the spirit of Easter, conversations about God and church continued to come up and it caused my aunt and uncle to realize that they needed to find a church in San Fransisco. The Saturday morning men's study sparked something in Randy and Easter Sunday's service inspired my aunt. God moved them and it was beautiful to watch their two different, but genuine reactions to Him.
I am really inspired to see how and where God is moving in the lives of those around me and just to witness a renewal of a longing for something more with our Savior brought me to a place where I realized that I need to
long for Him as well. Family can be either the biggest thorn in your side or the biggest opportunity to love regardless and see how God can move in you to then move others.
