We are family
The ending of month three is very bittersweet. In two days we are heading off to Romania for a few days. There we will find out the fate of our team. Due to team leaders moving up to squad leader positions and some participants leaving the race there are possible team switches. Knowing that this opportunity is good and will increase growth it is still hard to think that I am leaving my family again. Team Hind’s Feet has become my family. We have learned life lessons together and from each other. We have challenged, preferred, and loved each other throughout these past few months.
My teammate Shawndell explained family very appropriately during a testimony once. She said family is always there. They are always in your business and they always love you, even when you yell at them. It doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll never get away from your family. This is true in more ways than one.
Two major lessons I’ve learned from my family: #1 You don’t just wake up every morning thinking, “Man, I love you!” #2 Vulnerability
#1 Daily we make choices. Daily we choose what we wear, eat, and what we will do for the day. Love is a choice. One of my favorite movies is “Dan In Real Life.” A quote that I like in the movie is “love isn’t a feeling but an ability.” Now as silly as this may seem, it is true. An ability can be learned and trained. Loving, truly loving is not easy. I suspect that you could ask any married couple and they would tell you that love isn’t easy and that they don’t always “feel” like loving. Same principle can be applied in family. You don’t always want to love, sometimes you don’t even want to look at the person.
Insert [unconditional love] here.
We are called to love. “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” REALLY?! This is why our kind of love doesn’t work. A safe assumption could be made that this is probably why most relationships fail. Unconditional love isn’t easy, natural, or selfish. Unconditional love is a choice, prefers others, and is full of grace.
So the next time someone eats your leftovers without asking or needs a shoulder to cry on (even though you told them it would turn out this way) choose love. Choose to honor them, prefer them, and give them grace when they falter. This is the kind of family I want to be apart of.
#2 My family has also taught me a lesson on being vulnerable. This is a hard lesson for me to swallow but what was even harder was when my team had to come to me and tell me that they felt that I was holding back and holding out on them. Wow. Gotta love family!
God is still teaching me how to operate in a lifestyle of vulnerability. It’s not something that comes naturally for me, it’s not necessarily something I want to do. However, the reward and outcome outweighs my selfishness and fear. Being vulnerable is what I’ve been missing in my life. Even typing this I have to turn my mind off because it hasn’t bought into the truth of it all.
Just in a short time of practicing vulnerability has brought healing to others and myself. I am learning that when you are vulnerable it allows others and yourself to be imperfect, more of the stuff that matters gets done, and you give God something to work with.
Here’s to family! This blog actually didn’t go as planned at all but in my new lifestyle of vulnerability I’m going to keep it. Perhaps there will be “We are Family” part 2.
Thanks for reading!
