Family

Well, it is Spring Break and I just got back from a weekend trip to Odessa and Lubbock to see my family. I went with Dustin and Lindsey and it was really fun. There is something about family that is amazing. In my family at least, it is with them that I am most comfortable. They have known me my whole life and know almost everything about me. They know my sense of humor, my likes, my dislikes, my behaviors, etc. Within my family, I see love that is hard to find in other places. A love that is accepting of everyone as they are. A love that wants the best for everyone and is concerned for others in the family. A love for Christ that is the center.

With Lindsey coming into the family, I get to see the welcoming of another person into the family. I got to see my grandmother tearfully give her a hug and say they love her and are glad to have her as part of the family.

But my family is so wonderful because of its deep Christian heritage. Both sets of my grandparents instilled in my parents Christian values that they it turn instilled in me. I just saw my Grandpa(my dad's dad) in great spirits after being in the hospital a week after having Congestive Heart Failure. And I stand in awe. He reminds me that life is a blessing and that I should make the most out of it as long as I am here. My Papaw (my mom's dad) took the time to give me a lesson on how important it is to gather your family around the table for a meal every day because this is the place where values and lessons are taught. I look at my family and feel so blessed.

I pray that one day I will be able to carry on this tradition. That I will have a great marriage to a wonderful Christian woman. That I will be able to raise children that have a love of the Lord. And hopefully they will look up to me as I looked up to my dad. And hopefully my grandkids will look up to me as I look up to my grandparents. Because I see my grandparents as some of the best Christians I've ever known. There is just something about families. The people in your life that have the most impact on you and that you have the most impact on.

I have another family in which I am a part of that I hope to figure out how to do my part in also. I am in the family of God and have many brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that I will learn to love this family in the same way I do my own family. And that I will be able to pass good values along to others in the same way. Then maybe I will finish my life and feel like I did something good in this world.