The holiday season just past and most holiday traditions center on getting together with family and spending time with one another. Family can invoke both positive and negative emotions, as well as frustrating and loving thoughts. If the idea of family can conjure up mixed feelings, why do we seem to need family time during important seasons of our lives; like the holidays? Wouldn’t life be simpler if we didn’t have to deal with these conflicting emotions during an important time in your life? There are many things that affect our lives with our families: time, distance, relationships. What are you to do if you family lives far away, you have a horrible family, or you don’t have any family? Let’s explore some options.
- Family is a safe place, if done correctly. It must be noted that not all families are a safe zone. This is not how it was intended to be, though. We are to honor and cherish our families and those around us. We can learn how to love safely in our homes or how not to trust love in our homes based on our experiences growing up. Families will shape you somehow on your journey. If you’re just starting with your own family, choose to be a safe environment. If you have conflict in your family, use safe boundaries to begin to make your family a safe place to be.
- Family is a gift from God. Going back to the Bible, God asked the people to come together for festivals throughout the year. Christmas and Easter are two festivals for the Christian faith; therefore, we come together. Back in Bible days, your family lived close to you, if not in the same house. This enabled everyone to get together for the holiday, or festival. Time and distance can be an obstacle for families today and this can make family life a bit more challenging. Learn to adjust and adapt because He gave us our family for relationships.
- Family does not have to be flesh and blood. God not only told us to care for our immediate family, He also told us to care for the widowed and orphaned. These were people who were outcasts in society and had no hope apart from someone taking them in and caring for them. Our family can be any person we come in contact with on a daily or yearly basis. We are all children of God and therefore are brothers and sisters in Him. This ensures we all have family in this world.
So, yes, family matters because in God’s eyes we ARE all family. Do not allow the limitations of this earth to damper your spirits even after the holidays have past. Look forward to your future with all those placed before you in your life. Look at them as God sees them: Family. Pray for them, love them, and care for them. Family matters because you matter. Family matters because all of God’s children matter. Family matters because God created us for relationship.
What are you doing today to make a difference in those around you? Invest in your family.
© 2016 Susan M. Sims
Photo courtesy of criminalatt at freedigitalphotos.net
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Great job, Susan. You made us more aware of the importance of family and what it really means. Thank you..