Life in Christ Connected..
I admit it, I have the most complex family tree known to man. To begin there are my two parents.. with 3 siblings. (2 sisters, 1 brother, I also have 2 stepsisters,2 stepbrothers, and step parents) Papa and Hazel keep track of us all and there are almost 20 Aunts and Uncles, and over 110 cousins of all kinds...
Starting at the top of my extended church family tree....Momella. Spiritual mother extraordinaire. Ohh... I have an entire family with 7 brothers and sisters, adopted as a teenager.. Ma and Pa Decker's clan.. I belong to them too.. it isn't wise to question Ma or her kids about this if you don't see where the branch is, as she is protective of what is hers, her kids are not far behind. Draw a line for nephews galore.. four nieces with that clan... plus their own babies. Okay next branch, I have one sister who migrated from Africa, Cameroon, she and her husband have 3 kids. Let's see Lawrence calls me mum.. he's from Kenya. He has three boys, so I might be a grandma at 34.. okay.. My Aunt Dora who is a lovely lady who adopted me as her official "sobrina" which is Spanish for niece.. Then there is My family in Brazil, 2 uncles, Tony and Jerson, Carlos (dad), Fernanda (mom/sister/BFF) , 2 more siblings. (You should see this on paper it looks great). Then my twin brother Anderson (Jerson's son), yes we look nothing alike, are completely different birthdays, speak completely different languages, but you guessed. those lines run right together inseperable... okay so not to forget Troy, Eldon, and Tim, big brothers. They have been with me since I was a church tree sapling...
For many years I could not understand the depth of what it means to be a brother or sister in Christ. I thought it was just a way to be polite to people in church. Over the last ten years I have come to understand that a family member in Christ is the deepest connection we carry. I am not taking away from the value of blood family. No one knows more than I do how much we need the connection of the clan we have been born into. In our blood family, we need both connections. What I am looking at though now, is the clan we are re-born into, by knowing Jesus Christ, and how our earthy families can benefit from this kind of connection. I have connections in Christ in a different way with all of my family de terre. Part of the meaning of this life in Christ is having those people around you who you know simply love you as you are... the good and the bad. These people have come to know me as impatient, hot tempered, but also someone who will pray until they have no words left. This love is not a blind love.. it is tested and true. Believe me, more than once several of these people have been furious with me, and rightly so. However our connection with Christ allows us to talk about things. When either of us have things to deal with that are painful, we reach out for each other.
While we love our earthly families, the connection there without God's presence, allows for us to "get away"with having a different standard for behavior. For example our earth logic is "if I borrow my sister's shirt without asking, it isn't stealing because it belonged to my sister. If I ruin it then she shouldn't get mad, because she's my sister. Sometimes I hear people insult their spouses, and it is supposed to be okay because well, that person their spouse.. I think you know where this is going. In our lives we need to be very mindful of the standards in which we see our our church family, and the rest of humanity including our family.. In the USA we often tend to give our earthly family, and the rest of humanity the short end of the stick. While our culture promotes autonomy and independence, it also gives a wide berth for treating our relatives badly when we feel the situation benefits us to do so. Sometimes we pretend parts of our family tree don't exist.. In other cultures we see a reverence for family and community that is beyond words, a closer representation of Christ's desires for us. There are branches everywhere here.. like my photo of Brazil up top.. I am not ripping the US apart in their life style.. but I do live here, and have been other places.. I know that many people from the US shake their heads when I speak of my extended family, and all of the ways that we do things together.. let alone trying to maintain a "regular family life" one that includes kind words for my husband every day and dinner at the table with our kids and regular visits with the family via Skype and facebook..... Having this kind of support, people who will love you, is a part of the connection to Christ that feeds us. It also keeps us on the path help the family tree to remain healthy. My regular family life benefits, because with all of the extra support, I can do more than if I was always alone. The truth is often times our extended family can see when our family tree leaves are falling too fast, and we need help.
We know that trees need to shed their leaves when they rest. I look at all of the things that I have endured in life as a new leaf. Each time a leaf falls, a new leaf, or new blessing or trial comes in it's place. The trunk of my part of the tree has 34 rings. Without the blessings of some of these people, I may have only had 18 rings.. One of my extra family members nursed me though a terrible bout of pneumonia, others helped me quit drinking and smoking.. All of these people have pushed me closer to Christ, when I would have run away. Others have held out their hands when so many of my leaves were falling so that the roots were close to dying two years ago after some surgeries.
Recently I was gifted with a family in Brazil. People who love me with all of their hearts. They call me daughter, sister, and friend. My roots have grown so strong in the last little while that my leaves are growing green and bearing fruit that I never expected to grow. While distance, and more time will witness more leaves falling, I know one thing for sure, no matter what happens, I am loved no matter where the leaves fall, and I am blessed to have them as my branches..
Te amo muito.. minha familia..
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