Family

The day after Thanksgiving, "Family" seems a very appropriate topic to blog about. I know that holidays bring about time with family. Many dread the holiday for days leading up to the event. Some anticipate what could happen at the gathering. Often based on prior events so the anticipation is often correct. Others avoid the event by being physically present, but mentally or emotionally absent. While yet a few don't participate in the family holiday at all.

What is it about gathering with our families that can cause such anxiety? Is it our expectations? Is it others expectations of us that we have failed to meet? Is it lack of relationships with these people that we are supposed to be connected with in some form or fashion? Is it the elephant in the room that no one is willing to talk about?

As I have thought over this topic during the last few days, I came to a conclusion. Our families, individually, are very much like God's family, collectively. We are all individuals with only one true thing in common. In our individual families, it is that we happened to be born or adopted into a particular group of people. You may have other bonds like: similar physical features, common interest, or you may all live in the same town. But you are family for only one real reason and you love each other because of that reason. I've even heard of people not particularly liking their family members,but stilling loving them because the are family.

God's family is much the same way. It is made up of all kinds of people. Some of them with common interest and goals; some with absolutely nothing in common except for the one REAL reason. The real reason being their acceptance of Jesus Christ as God's one and only son who died for the redemption of their sins.

Heaven is going to be one BIG family gathering with all of the family members present. If there is some reason that we don't enjoy family gatherings here on earth, we might need to take time to figure out why. There will be people in heaven that we have one and only one thing in common with and that is going to be enough.

Before Christmas comes, let's ponder what it is about the family gatherings that make us uncomfortable. Then see if we can't choose to approach the next family gathering with excitement. The excitement of those who are gathering with God's children.

Trying my hand at bloggin'

After becoming a fan of several blogs, I have decided to try my hand at my own blog. I'm not sure what I'm doing but I'm going to try.

I'll start with the name of the blog, "Can't buy diamonds in a Jiffy store." This is one of life's lessons that has taken me a long time to grasp and still haven't mastered. As many people do, I have expectations. Sometimes my expectations are reasonable and sometimes they are very far from reasonable. Reasonable expectations are: if you put a stamp on a letter along with a proper address and put it in the mail box, it will get to its destination; if you go to a shoe store, you will probably find a pair or more of shoes that you like. Unreasonable expectations are: wanting tofu to taste like food, expecting your children to never have to be reminded of their chores, or that people will always agree with you or be honest when they don't.

The problem with unreasonable expectations doesn't lie in the person or thing that the expectation is being placed on. The problem lies with the one who is expecting. I've not had to lower my expectations or stop expecting, but I've had to make them reasonable. Tofu is never going to taste like apple pie unless you add apples, sugar, and pie crust. It still may not taste like apple pie, but it will be closer than tofu all alone. Children may never do all of their chores without being reminded, but you can give them tools to help them become more responsible. Giving them a chore chart with stickers that helps them visually keep track of their jobs and paying on a commission per completed chore basis will motivate them to complete their task.

As for people, that is not so easily solved. I can only speak from my experiences. If you expect honesty, you must first give it and be prepared for it not to be received. You must also decide if you want honesty or agreement. Everyone who is honest with you will probably not agree with you. Some people are not honest with themselves so they are certainly not capable of being honest with you.

If you are lucky, you will be given a hand full of people in your life time with whom you can be honest and will be honest with you. These are called, "friends." They are gifts from God. They are his ambassadors with skin. Treasure them like the finest riches and purest gold. You won't have many but the one's you get will be priceless.

The deal is you won't find them in a Jiffy store. You can find some really good stuff in a Jiffy store...candy bars, diet coke in a can, bug juice, gas, even a loaf of bread if you are in a hurry. All of those things are wonderful and very necessary in life, however they are not as rare and special as a diamond. A diamond that can only be found in a jewelry store. So don't get mad at the Jiffy store when you can't find the diamond that you were looking for. Be happy with what the Jiffy store has to offer and don't go in expecting to find a diamond.