Family defined

Fam·i·ly (noun)
a. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.
b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.

2. the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family.

3. the spouse and children of one person: We're taking the family on vacation next week.

4. any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins: to marry into a socially prominent family.

all those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.


A quick search on Dictionary.com will reveal the definition of family. However I am not so convinced anymore that it is an accurate description of what family truly is. I have a feeling that I may not be alone in what I feel defines the term “family”. Does a family go beyond genetics and a common last name? I guess in this case, size doesn’t matter. I may have been brought up in a relatively small group of family that I am related to by blood, but I feel that my true family is vast, and growing continually.

The establishment of family was created to tie people together. So that each member would be shored up by another so that with a strong foundation, it could stand up against the strongest of storms. One of my favorite versus that convinces me that God wants family to work as a unit is from the Psalms, But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children. Psalm 103:17

Yet, I just can’t stop there. Why? Well, my traditional family has undergone many changes. My previously small family has become even smaller. Those who I dwelled with and have descended from are now only 1 other, my sister. I do have my step father, who I adore and now care for full time in my home. His steadfast love of my mother, and her two daughters helped build the foundation of my ever changing idea of what a family is. I have also created a rather large family of my own with my husband. My husband is a fantastic blessing to me and is an incredible anchor in the many storms. But I have realized that my family is so much larger. I see family everywhere I go.



This is a picture of my daughters cross country team. They remind me that family is a fortress that stands strong. I have been brought to tears and we have only had two meets this season. These girls pump one another up. They encourage one another, and they hold one another up. I have witnessed these girls run their hearts out, then get right on the route lines and encourage the boys, whether they are friends or not. All that matters is that there is a fellow runner wearing a Bethel Tate jersey and they will not run alone. They run along the route cheering, encouraging and pumping the runner up. Even if they are the very last runner of that heat. Social status doesn’t matter, runners are family. I have watched parents wait until the very last runner comes in. They cheer as though it was their child, even though their child finished minutes, sometimes hours ago. It doesn’t matter, that child is a runner, runners are family.


I also learned that my family spans the years and the miles. Time holds no boundaries to family. My time spent in California to support my family during my mom’s illness and passing was revealing of how time does not change ties. Friends from my childhood called, texted, and made sure I was well fed. The day that Momma passed I had more support than I ever thought I would need. My nearly three hour layover in Philadelphia was met with one of my bestest friends driving 2 hours to make sure I had lunch. It was then that I found out that my Momma had gone peacefully. The five hour flight was made easier by wifi access so that I could communicate with my husband and dear friends who were doing all they could to help pass the time. I was met at the airport by my sweet friend, Jennefer. She insisted that she pick me up at LAX so that my family could focus on each other until I arrived. She made sure I ate, and stayed with me and my family. Her family offered me a car to make sure that we had enough vehicles to do the things that we needed to do. Memories of sleepovers spent at that home, treats made, curfews, late night giggles, and hugs. The last time I had seen her brothers they were just little boys running around in under-roos and capes. Now they were men, one raising his own family. A dinner with who I grew up with as a second mom made me jealous of my friend. Yet I now am thankful that I can still call her mom.

There is this strange yet blessed phenomenon that takes place when you endure an incredible loss. You become a part of a small selective society. It’s a club of sorts. The only thing that gets you in is having shared a common burden. If you have lost your mom, then you understand the heart break, the jealousy of friends who still have theirs, the anger when that first mother’s day comes and you can no longer hear her thank you. You know regret of missed thank you’s, I should have called more, and why didn’t I visit more. If you’ve been a caretaker for a sick loved one, then you understand the exhaustion, the devotion, the guilt of wanting more sleep, the heartbreak in watching them lose weight, and slip further away, the difficult decisions, the 3 am prayers whispered.

My sweet friend, Jennefer is having to experience the anguish and the blessing of caring for a loved one who is fighting the fight of her life. You see, her precious niece, Sterling (the daughter of one of her under-roo wearing brothers), experienced some headaches that were discovered to be caused by a rare form of cancer. There have been incredibly tough decisions, difficult nights spent in countless hospital hallways. It’s barely been over a month, yet their journey is just begun. This battle requires lots of man power, lots of prayers and is going to require the support of many who are willing the join the ranks to see that Sterling receives as much love and help as she can to fight. I welcome you to be a part of Sterling’s journey. To uplift her family, to witness the blessings unfold. I would be hard pressed to find someone who has not been touched by cancer, touched by watching the daily battle against it. The family ties to that experience are far too reaching than I could ever fathom.


This is how you can follow Sterling's Journey and help:
https://www.mylifeline.org/sterlingchronicles/?page=welcome.cfm

I’ve heard the phrase, “Blood is thicker than water”, but I have also heard, “friends are the family you chose for yourself”. What I do know for a fact is that you can never have too much family, be it those who you are bound to by genetics and namesake or by the mutual understanding of the souls journey. I love my family, it stretches across the miles, oceans and time. May God bless my family, and may I always be at the ready to shore up those who I am bound to.

II Cor.13: 11-14

11 Finally, brethren, farewell.  Become complete.  Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.  12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.  13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.