Family time

Last Saturday my family and I took off for a small town in Missouri to visit with family for the week. The population is 1255 people as of the 2017 census and it seems like most of the town is related to one another and the rest of the town at least went to school with a relative of ours. People can look at me and know that I'm related to the Clarks which is both heartwarming and disconcerting (jk). My mom is the eldest of 7 children and those 7 children had a total of 20 kids. The next three generations would take some time to calculate, and I'm sure I would miss several people anyway. Some of them I've never met and there are even some that I don't know exist. Last Sunday at least 40 of us got together for a meal and to catch up. It was like no time had passed between the decades when we last saw some of my cousins until now. We were able to pick up where we had left off.
   Even though it's an obvious thought, it occurred to me that unlike friends, relatives can't choose one another (except certain circumstances such as adoption). We are either born into a family or join a family through marriage. God perfectly connects us to one another and provides us with the human relationships we need in this life to prepare us for the next. We are all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve; we are all related. Family is so important and yet they're often the ones we treat badly, argue with the most, and take for granted.
   When I started this week I didn't have a theme for our prayer group and my schedule has been a little crazy since I'm on vacation and in a different timezone. I was stressing about it at first but then I realized that I need to enjoy this time here with my family and not worry so much about being wordy or even punctual online this week. Next week I'll be back to posting on schedule and be able to focus better on writing. Until then, join me for the rest of the week in praying for family.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV