Family Love

Here we are at another Monday, this one being the last of the month of March. I spent the weekend with my extended family in a lodge in Pretoria for my sister's wedding, and I realized how spoilt I am with the relationships I have in my family. From sisters and brothers, parents and grandparents, to aunts and uncles, cousins and in-laws. All of them are so special and exciting to me. My family; a group of people that travel from Cape Town, Durban, London, Australia, and almost everywhere else you can think of to spend a weekend together celebrating my sister's marriage. It was the kind of weekend where you reach the Sunday afternoon and think to yourself, "Wow that was incredible, I feel like my heart is so filled up with love. What? I have to go to work tomorrow morning? But that seems like it's a whole world away."

All the way through it all and after it all, the conversation kept returning to Sao Paulo. "So when are you going to leave? How long are you planning to be there for? What exactly is it that you're going to do?" My thoughts were held firm on my calling, and being surrounded by a family that was making my heart overflow with love affected the patterns of these thoughts with a deep impact. I would love to stay in this country, surrounded so closely by people who love me, and people who I love so much. I would even love to move to the countries where many of these people now live, and be close to them, and be able to know that I can spend the weekend with family who love me, not because of what I do, but because of who I am.

The inevitable thought, however, keeps on surfacing in the pool of my heart: the precious children on the streets of Sao Paulo will never know this kind of love, joy or fulfillment. That thought saddened and even scared me. I am called to leave my family and friends, and go be a family that these kids will, otherwise, never know, and I get these urges to abandon that calling so that I can enjoy these special times more often. I know these kinds of feelings are natural and healthy, however, when I step back, they feel selfish.

Is it not a rational thought to receive this kind of love, and then be willing to share it? Is it not advancement in this kind of love, and an overflow of a healthy family love that can drive me to plant it where there is none?

My thoughts this week for you are that you may cherish and value every member of your family. That you don't take them for granted, or the love and sacrifices they make for you as something to be expected. My prayers are that, together, we may learn how to grow in this love. Grow into more than just being receivers and takers, but also to be givers and sharers. To pour out the abundance of love we may receive into the hearts of the desperate and empty. This could very well be the answer to the depravity in our communities.

Amen.