It's been quite a while since my last post. God blessed my with a revelation about family recently and I have been kind of marinating on it for a while but now it is time to share.
I have been blessed with a wonderful family in Florida. My family in Florida became so initially by way of marriage. When God blessed me with my husband, He also blessed me with a wonderful family that I feel like I have been a part of forever. They often ask about my family in Virginia and constantly ask me when I will visit again. I have never been anxious to visit for reasons I had not wanted to address but was brought face to face with just a few weeks ago.
I had the priviledge of watching my sister (she is actually my cousin but has always been more like a sister) get married the last weekend in July. It was a beautiful event and I was blessed to be a part of the wedding. I was absolutely overjoyed to watch her be united to a wonderful man. You can tell by his presence and the words, expressions and attitudes of his family and friends that he is a wonderfully loving and caring person and to see the two of them be joined in such a sacred and precious union was truly a blessing and I am honored to have been included.
The weeks prior to the trip I was tremendously apprehensive. I wasn't sure how the trip would go, we had problems finding tickets, our car wanted to act up and I hadn't been back to Virginia in many years so I wasn't quite sure of the reception. I love my family and I know that they love me but I tend to guard my emotions but these were people that birthed, raised and nurtured me for a number of years. How would it go?
Seeing these people that I love so much almost made my heart break free from my chest. I could not believe how much I had missed seeing them and being a part of their conversations. Just to be in the room and feel their love for each other and the intimate family chatter was priceless. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and the time passed entirely too fast.
The thing that I had always secretly been afraid of happened the night we all were parting ways after the wedding reception. I love every member of my family but the person that I love so dearly in the world, I had to leave behind again, only to communicate with via text message, email and phone. Some people have called us twins and at times I wonder. My baby sis is six years younger than I am but we think alike and talk alike, have the same tendencies...it's really quite weird when I think about it. I even took one of those personality test emails that float around the internet and she was my "twin soul'! That was kind of funny! When my husband and I got in the car to leave I actually cried. Now crying is not something that I do a lot of. I personally don't like to do so and am usually pretty well at keeping my feelings, especially the outer expression of them under control. But the thought of leaving my little sister again was a little much for me to bear.
I realized that I don't relish the thought of going back because I know the time will come when you have to leave again.
I love both of my my families and realize that I am TREMENDOUSLY blessed to have each and every family member that God has blessed me with.
Like I said before, I was slightly apprehensive about the trip but God showed me that I am blessed in so many ways. I am truly thankful for every member of my family. I love my mother and my father and am blessed to still have both in my life. I am thankful for my grandparents and for having the opportunity to see them again. I am thankful for all of aunties, uncles, cousins, sisters and brothers.
I am a person that loves for things to be categorized and one thing that bothered me before the trip was that I didn't know who should fit where in the table if I tried to put things neatly in my head. I couldn't very well put this person in a spot that might seem to hold more honor or respect than another spot. What God showed me is that when it comes to family, you don't need tables or pie charts or organizational charts. He has blessed me with a heart that is overfilling with overwhelming love for every member of my family and the common sense to realize that I am very very blessed.
He blessed me with my natural family from birth to 1999. On March 19, 1999 He blessed me with another family and there is no rank structure or seniority dates needed. I love each and every member of my family. God has blessed me where relationships are not determined by in-law or marriage or first or second cousin...its all categorized as family. No sub-category needed.
So the one thing I would share from what I learned is don't allow the need to categorize everything in life cause you to miss the blessing of now. In attempting to make everything neat and perfect, you could very well miss the precious sweetness and single greatness of the moment.
Don't over-analyze the blessings in your life. Thank God and enjoy them, appreciate them!
