Multitude Monday

This week was about family.

It was a good week which ended with a 50th birthday celebration for my brother-in-law. That was followed by a very nice Mother's Day. I gave the message at church and then later in the day my husband and children took me out to dinner and showered me with flowers and cards.

Today is the day I normally go back over the previous week and find the many ways I've seen God's hand and list my thankful things. The main thing I'm thankful for is the family God has given me. And it's so very easy to paint a picture that seems as if everything is perfect. 

My life is NOT perfect; not even close. I am a work in progress as are all of the people in my life. My family struggles often. We get irritated with one another and sometimes angry. But at the end of the day, we love one another. We say "I'm sorry." 

One of the reasons Mother's Day is a hard day for many is that you can look at someone else's family and only see the lacking in your own. The reality is that no one's family is perfect no matter how it may look on the outside. Sometimes your family will shine and sometimes they won't. 

But comparison will always lead you down a bad path and if you compare your family to others it will lead you into discontentment and discouragement. My family did indeed sparkle this weekend, but that's has not always been the case on other Mother's Days. 

But this is my family and I love them - warts and all. And they love me with all my flaws. And that's what family is about - working on flaws in the midst of relationship. And sticking it out even when the ones we love disappoint. And that's what my message was on yesterday. I spoke on "Ten Ways to Show Love to the Family of God."

How do we show love in the body of Christ which is the family we choose to align ourselves with? By sticking with it even when things are hard and by working through those tough times.

So on this Multitude Monday I am thankful for family. Both my family by blood and my chosen family of God.