F O R E V E R

This past week, one of my family members passed away. I was away at a camp in Austin when I received the news. My mom told me that my family was going to pick me up from camp a day early so we could go to Houston for the funeral.

I was devastated, not at the fact that a family member had passed away but at the fact that I had to leave camp a day early. My friends and I looked forward to this camp every year. Plus, Friday was the only day we were allowed to eat lunch together. We had big plans for that Friday like eating ice cream and joking around. The one thing I had been looking forward to all year I now wouldn't be able to do.

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Days later at the funeral, I found myself surrounded by heartbroken people. I had been to a few funerals before, but I had never realized the true loss people experienced. As I sat there in the pews, I realized how brokenhearted these people truly were.

Suddenly, it struck me. I relived the short moment a few days before as I walked in the drizzling rain in front of my cabin in tears as my mom told me about the change in plans. All I could think in that moment was It's not fair. This is the one thing I have looked forward to all year and now I can't even do it. Why did this have to happen? Realization hit me and I silently whispered, God, please forgive me. I suddenly recognized my own wrongdoing.

I had been wallowing in my self-pity. I found myself crying that it wasn't fair. Meanwhile, my mom was grieving the loss of her uncle. I was being insensitive. As I talked to my mom later about it, she helped me understand something so important. While spending time with friends is something that can always be postponed and done at a later time, family is forever. While friends can drift in and out of our lives, family will always be there.

It may seem hard to understand or even agree with. No one has a "picture perfect" family. Everyone has their flaws. There are bound to be broken relationships and hurtful words, but that shouldn't deter us from trying to be kind and loving towards our family members, even when they don't do the same back to us.

Luke 6:31

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

This verse, commonly known as the Golden Rule, may seem familiar to most. But it's so hard to comply with! You may want someone to speak kindly to you, so you speak kindly to them. But it seems pointless when they still speak harshly to you, doesn't it? Guess what. Your kind words, your gentle actions, your caring heart will one day get through to them. A lot of times people act out in anger because someone hurt them. When you continue to act compassionately towards them, they will soon understand that they are loved.

Pray for your family with a passion. Pray that God would touch each of their lives. Pray that God would work miracles in their lives, and more importantly, pray that God would reveal himself in a deeper way to them. Your prayer and intercession on their behalf makes all the difference. This is how you can stand in the gap and be there for your family when they need it most.

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Here are just some Bible verses about being there for one another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Philippians 2:1-7

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

1 Corinthians 12:26

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

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I hope that in this post you realize the importance of family. Note that I never mentioned anywhere that I have a perfect family. Our family is far from perfect. What makes our relationships unique, though, is the fact that we are there for one another through it all. We try our best to live like Christ and show love and compassion to one another. Just remember that while the moments of this world are fleeting, family is forever.