Family Matters...

Well, even though I try not to "self-indulge" here, I felt that I should share something very close to my heart today: Family.

I grew up without parents. My biological producers decided to divorce shortly after I arrived on the scene, and my paternal grandparents (mostly my Grandmother) accepted the laborious duty of making sure that I grew up reasonably sane.

But I've always considered the "church" my family. God's family is so very precious to me on so many levels.

Even though I do have biological relatives, we are close from a distance--and it works well for everyone involved.

Or at least it does for me.

Yet, the family of God--those wonderful Christians who know God as Father, Christ as Saviour and Forgiver--these people have been my family now for more than 37 years.

These are the people who loved and nurtured me, faithfully though imperfectly, as a teenager.

These are the same people who loved me, nurtured me, and cared for me as a backwards, bumbling, and completely broken college student.

The family of God made sure that I never slept out in the cold, or missed a meal because I didn't have access to food.

The family of God became even more precious to me when I entered the United States Air Force, moved away from familiar surroundings, and expanded my horizons--whether I liked it or not.

And I did like it. Very much.

I cannot overstate the importance of the "family"--God's family in my life.

How very precious these people are.