Family

I get to meet a lot of different people at my shop, and I've learned that I often take my safe and secure Christian home for granted.

I was chatting with a shopper the other day, and when the door opened, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she saw who was walking in the door....she gasped, "my sister!!"

Strange, I just say hi when I run into my sister, but this wasn't the case with these two. They hadn't spoken for MONTHS. You could cut the tension with a knife. I pretended to get busy straightening clothes, and then I heard the 2 year old daughter of one of the sisters yell, "AUNTIE Stephy!" and that little girl just ran full blast to her auntie who stretched out her arms and picked up that little girl and just planted kiss after kiss on her little cheeks. I thought I would bust trying not to clap and say wooo hooo!

The sisters gave eachther a sideways glance, and finally one asked the other "what did you do for Thanksgiving?" The shop is small and there was nowhere for me to hide as the floodgates broke, and one apologized and the other admitted it was a dumb thing to be mad about in the first place. The two stood for an hour and talked about their parents and step parents.

These lovely sisters come from a broken and just plain messed up home, where insults are hurled and fists thrown over Thanksgiving dinner. The tale unfolded between the two of them, how their step mother mis treats them, and their dad always takes her side. Brother in laws hate eachother, and refuse to be under the same roof together, it's just a big ole mess!

As one sister walked out the door she said, "I'll call ya" to the other. As the door shut, the sister still in the store mumbled, "yeah right".

It's so sad to witness broken families in action. As the little 2 year old girl waved bye bye to me as she left the shop I fast forwarded in my mind 20 years, and wondered, what would her relationship with her auntie be like by then, or maybe she wouldn't even be on good terms with her own mom. Devastating.

As my kids grow up, and date I have learned to bite my tongue....both of my girls are technically at an age where their boyfriends could become in-laws, and I don't want to say anything that would hurt my relationship with my daughters should that guy become their husband some day.

So who in your family could you apologize to?....send a note, give them a call, even an email might be enough to break the ice. God forgives us and He commands us to forgive others, isn't that hard to do especially when a family member has hurt you?

Almighty God, even before I was born, you selected a family for me, and I thank you for choosing a family that believes in you. Preserve our families Lord, help us to love one another, and where forgiveness or repentance is neccesarry, change our hearts and fill us with your love so that we may love others as you love us.