I Timothy 5:4
December 12th is my birthday and also my mother’s birthday, so the day always makes me think about family. Growing up I wasn’t always happy to be in my family. There was alcoholism, mental illness, welfare for a time and a mother who was chronically depressed and ill. And yet, I always knew I was loved, that God was watching over me, and that He had given me a loving Christian grandmother ad a great-aunt who filled in the gaps in my family life. God found a family for Les and me in some unlikely places: in a barrio in the Philippines, in the mangrove swamps of Vietnam, among our son’s gay friends, with dear friends of many races, and classes around the world and now in our wonderful blended family here at Stevensville United Methodist Church. I now see that each experience has helped form my character and values, and shown me how to live a Christian life. I give humble thanks.
Jesus was born into an unlikely family also, with an unmarried teenage mother and an older, probably uneducated carpenter father. Yet they loved, instructed and nurtured the Son of God until he came into his ministry, created his second family of disciples and believers, and proclaimed that people everywhere are a part of God’s family. What an amazing inclusive promise! All we must do is love Him, seek His forgiveness, and obey His commandments.
May we love and cherish our families this Christmas and support and extend our church family to all God’s people.
Hazel Smith
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