God's Forever Kind of Family

When my family was split up fourteen years ago because of the separation and divorce of my parents you can imagine the devastation I went through. It's not like life at home was the best. I specifically chose a college farther away so that I could be away from my parents fighting and the depressing atmosphere of my home. Still everyone longs to belong to a family and my heart was no different.

As I look back over the years I see that instead of shrinking my family that my parents' separation has actually grown it. You may wonder how that's possible but God who is author of the impossible was in charge. Even though my family was split and scattered He started to fill in the gaps.

God bought moms and dads and sisters and brothers around to fill in those gaps. Friends from college took me home with them over the weekend. God brought great friends into my life who were like sisters to me. Other friends let me live with them. My small church felt like family. Even to this day God continues to send more people who become like family to me!

 

Sometimes I get a little depressed when I think about the state of my actual nuclear family. I haven't seen my oldest brother for eight years and my youngest brother has grown up like an only child. The part of my family that I do see seems very small. But when I think about all those people God sent to fill in the gap I am amazed. How could end up with such a large family after all?

Do you know why I think that they are like family? My place with them is secure because we are all a part of the family of God. There may not be that connection with everyone in the body of Christ but God puts certain people in our path that stick. The years may go by and circumstances may change but you feel safe with each other and love each other even with the passing of the years. You support each other through the ups and downs and when you are together sometimes it's just as if the years hadn't passed by at all.

I just spent nearly two weeks visiting some of my "family" in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. I wish I had pictures of all those sweet people! They are people that God brought into my life just when I needed them. People who still love me and believe in me despite the distance and time that had passed. Brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers...all a part of God's family. And do you know the best part of being a part of the family of God? It's a forever kind of family!