To my friends,
September is an exciting time of year with the start-up of school. I have a young neighbour who started school last year. He is really excited to see his old friends again. He loves to learn and one important thing he learned in Junior Kindergarten was about families.
I remember that last year—after getting to know other school kids— he noticed that not everyone has the same family shape. When the teacher asked the students to make pictures of their families, his classmates created a variety of drawings. His own family picture had himself and his mother.
Some families had a mother and a father, plus two or, sometimes, three children. One family even had five children in it, along with the parents! Others drew two houses—one for Mom and another for Dad—with children staying with each parent at each house every other week. A few pictures included an extra Mom or Dad because the parents had married again after a divorce. In some of those pictures, there were either baby half-brothers or half-sisters, or, in some cases, older step-siblings who became part of the family at the time of the second marriage. One of his best friends drew an apartment with only herself and her grandma because that’s what her family looks like.
All of these pictures describe the many ways it is to be a family. Jesus said, Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother. (Mark 3:35, CEV)
May the God of peace equip you thoroughly for living in God’s way. You are wrapped in the love of God, clothed with the strength of Christ, and surrounded by the grace and warmth of the Spirit. May you always know that you are in God’s care.
Peace and blessings to you,
Jennifer
