It's a family thing

"I wouldn't be worried but........ yes you will probably die." Quote from my father. Oh, all the things that families say. Sometimes they are the worst. Have you ever noticed that when you ask a sister if you look good her response goes something like," Well yeah, I guess, but that shirt you have on makes your face look weird." Or, my personal favorite, is mom's "Honey, that looks like a reject from the 70's."
Family is special. Yes, both *special* and special. No matter what kind of hat your dad wears or how many times your little sister licks the walls during the church service. They are with you for life. Although, yes, sometimes I admit....I have fear, when I shop at Walmart with my father, because I know that he is going to tell the kids to sit on the thing that spins around with bags. Or, when my mom decides that right in the middle of the parking lot she is going to start clapping, and won't go until you start clapping too. You have to understand...she looks crazy. She is a little crazy...but, the clapping thing is really a "Praisin' the Lord!" thing...you have to know my mom.
Then, I was talking to my sister the other day and we were talking about our house and the creek and she would tell me stories of big swings and crazy games that we played. ''Man'' I said, ''and I made it out alive?''
I like having people around that act just like me. Okay, okay...I like having people I can blame my craziness on.
Sometimes though, they are there to keep you humble. Sometimes they are there to make you look smarter. Sometimes they are there to embarrassed the life out of you in front of your friends and their parents. They are there to show you how big God is and make you glad that all you have is a little scar on your head instead of a half caved in one. They are there so that you always have a best friend. And sometimes they are there for good advice and good laughs.
Family is a good thing. They are the ones that can say "I love you, but I hate your shoes." They have that power to tell the truth to you and not be afraid that you will walk away. A kind of love that a family has for one another is different than most love. You never had to earn their love and you never have to worry about losing it. You don't have to be perfect or have walls firmly in place to protect yourself. Sometimes family isn't one ounce blood. There have been times that I wanted to never talk to parts of my family. Somehow, forgiveness always comes. They are the ones that can do something to us that makes us on fire with anger and yet 1o minutes later say something that makes us laugh like a crazy person.
My family is BIG and...slightly crazy. They all have different beliefs and styles. They each laugh differently and have their own ways of thinking and doing things. But not matter what they do or say, each one is the same in my eyes...priceless. Each one means so much to me, they are each very important to me; something that no amount of money and nothing on this earth could replace.
In Him I live a write,