Family

Family can be defined as persons with genetic or adoptive ties. Family can also be defined as persons with close, chosen relationships. Thirdly, family can be defined by our relationships within the church. I am blessed to have my family defined by all three.

I can remember so many years when my relationships with my family of genetic origin tended to be fraught with anxiety. I know that I am different in many ways from my family of origin. My parents and my brother were, by nature, far more detail oriented than I am. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I could begin to really accept that my differences were truly okay, that I wasn’t crazy as I had often thought because I was so different.

This year I have finally begun to experience a greater freedom for me within my family. I do not need to fit within some limited mold to be acceptable; and I know that it was more that I was trying to be acceptable to them than that they wanted me to fit in a mold. Partly, this freedom comes simply from growing older and becoming more comfortable within my own skin. Part of it comes from a greater awareness of how each of us has been shaped by how we grew up.

Tonight, I know that to be able to laugh, and cry, and laugh again in the midst of family is a tremendous gift.