I was lying in bed tonight, praying for things. My family
came to mind, and I was thinking about who I missed most at home if I had to
rate. It was a silly thought, and defiantly a sidetrack in my prayer, but it
had me thinking. I have a few friends I would list out, as 
well as my parents.
Both sets. But I have recently felt this competition. This idea that one needs
to surpass the other in how often I am talked to. That one needs to write a
better comment on my blog than the other. And maybe this is just me, and how I
see things, but its true. I am beginning to wonder where does it end. I mean, I
have a spiritual mom back home, who I 
consider a mom, and I call her Ma. I have
a Mom and Dad on this Race, they are my ‘parent-friend-mentor” over the next
year while I don’t have my family. I have what almost seems like a mom and dad
right now with the hosts I am staying with. Does it mean one mom or dad is better
than the other? Not at all! Sure I was born by one, raised by another, and fed
by a third. Sure one read me stories, one taught me about God, and one fed me
as a poor college kid. Sure one can hold me as I cry in California, and one can
hold me as I cry in Romania, but does it mean one is more than another? No. I
don’t mean to say my real parents are not 
important, or not the most special,
but lets look at things this way for a minute… Here I am, currently in
Budapest, Hungary, with no family. Nicole just asked me for a hug goodnight as
we laid in our bed and it was like home…
It was family.
The other day our hosts were telling us a story. A story how
they explain to the Hungarians that when you are a Christian you have family everywhere
there is life. If I am a Christian from
California, living for the moment in
Hungary, my family is here. Family isn’t who shares my blood all the time. It
can be whom I love and would do anything for. It can be who has changed my life
and I never want to loose. And more than that, we are family because we have
the same father, and his name is Christ Jesus, who is with us whether we are in
Hawaii, Uganda, Ireland, or Cambodia. He is the dad that can be everywhere we
are.
family, worrying about who is missed more and thought about less, lets all be
family. Put our hindrances aside, and love one another. Hurt feelings and
moments of jealousy are worthless in the end, so instead of letting them win us
over, let love win them over…
I love my family, every single one of them.
