That isn't because I haven't had anything to write. Far from it... There's been so much I've been learning, so much that has happened in my life over the past several months, and so, so much that God has been teaching me...that has grown me in ways I could never have expected or even imagined. I feel like I could almost write a book, but tonight I'll focus on one thing I am becoming increasingly grateful for: family.
As some of you know, my parents moved to Nevada last December. It was a huge change for all of us. My parents had been living in Sacramento (in the same house!) for basically all of their married life, which was thirty-three years in June. And I had been living with them until last October when I moved out for the first time. I didn't want to admit it, but it was a difficult and monumental transition for me when I found out that they were not just moving out of the duplex where we had been living, not just out of town, but out of state. To be honest, I felt a lot of anxiety. Like a rug was being pulled out from under my feet and I was losing my main source of stability and support. But even then, I knew it would be a great learning curve for me as I learned that I could rely on God as my Provider, my Rock, and my Sustainer, and as the One who is always with me (and who even lives inside of me). And these names of God have indeed become my reality more and more through these past months.
A couple months ago, I received a promise from Him: "You will always have family." Since then, I've realized this truth on a deeper basis: the church is a family...the family of God. We who have been gathered together in His name have gained older and younger brothers and sisters, parents, and children. This amazes me and fills me with joy. Consider my family for a moment. If you've ever met us, you know that we are not biologically related. (Surprise! ;) We each were gathered from different families and brought together through the process of adoption. We are family not because of physical ties, but because of my parents' continual commitment and sacrifice to love both my sister and me as their own. Somewhere along the way, we "became" a family. My sister is not just "like" my sister. She is my sister. My dad and mom aren't just "like" parents to me. They are my parents. In the same way, the body of Christ is a family of people committed to love each other because God first loved us. We belong to each other because we each belong to Him. We're not just "like" family. We are family.
And tonight, that is one of the things that I am most grateful for in this season: with my immediate family farther away, I am gaining a greater understanding of the church as my family.
This season has been tough. It has been one of the lonelier times of my life. As a single person without family members close by, I have at times felt like a "loose end." I can spend my time freely however I choose, but with that freedom sometimes comes a sense of feeling unknown or unseen. And I have wonderful people in my life, but they are not always available. I don't say this to complain or garner invitations to events. I share this simply because it's what I experience at times and because I'm sure there are other people who can relate.
But I have started to become grateful for those "lonely" times. 1. Because I long for deeper intimacy with God. 2. Because I have become more aware of my need to reach out to others who are lonely and 3. Because it has created space for my spiritual family members (aka the body of Christ) to invest in me.
I've found that sometimes God uses the lack or absence of something we thought we needed to demonstrate just how great and creative a Provider He is. In that place, we find that He is the Source of all that is good and true and beautiful, and that every created thing (including people) are expressions of His heart for us. The inspiration behind this blog post was a Bible study with some very dear friends this evening. This couple knew my family from before I was born and we've reconnected in the past few years. They have told me "you're family to us" and acted upon that statement by inviting me over for meals, encouraging me, praying for me, and being parents to me while my actual parents are farther away. And I am so incredibly blessed as a result.
In summary, I think that God has a much greater, deeper idea of family than we do. He is for unity. For gathering people together. For community. For enduring relationships that outlast time. For family - sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers - knit together in His love.
The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered." -Isaiah 56:8