If you have been reading this blog for any time at all you will quickly see that relationships, most especially with women, are so important to me. My conversations with my counter parts, with women of faith, and with women in general, make my life rich. I very seldom meet a woman that I don’t like, at least on some level. We may differ in many things that are important to me, but I am compelled by a commandment to love, even when it is not always easy. When we are not able to agree, when our words speak differently, still we have a mandate that says we must love as though we are loving ourselves.
Yet, with all of these women that I love, including my daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and sister-in-laws, there are two women who I have know and loved all of my life. Those two women are my sisters. Where once there were three now there are two. My oldest sister has gone on to be with the Lord, and her passing is still very hard.
What occurred to me the other day is how life gives us a different perspective the longer we actually live it out. My first family, my parents and siblings, were all the world I knew for my yearly years, and truthfully they were all that I needed. Then, suddenly life looks different overnight, as that man of your dreams appears, a family of your own arrives, and life gets rerouted. The first family is still so important, but so is the new family that you are called to love, and cherish. These years go on for what can seem like an eternity, but then one day you are back to where you started. You begin to realize that your first family is getting older, some have gone on, and you take stock of what it all means.
This is what it means to me. I have an awesome husband, children, son-in-laws, and grandchildren, and they are truly a blessing that I will forever be thankful for, but I never want to lose those that are the oldest relationships that I have. The ones who knew me as a small child, who saw me go through the awkward stages of puberty, who got my ears pierced without parental permission, who waited with me expectantly for Santa to come, and who loved me throughout it all. These are just a few moments in my life that I will always value. They are what helped to shape me, making me the woman that I am today. These special ones are not to be overlooked.
If you are fortunate to have members of your first family still with you, even if they are living many miles away, my advice is to take stock. Don’t miss out on these days to talk, to laugh, to reminisce, and to build on that foundation that was created so many years ago. I know that fractures can happen over the years, and that deep cracks look like they can’t be repaired, but they can! You can add new additions onto those older foundations making them stronger than ever, or perhaps strong for the very first time.
Please receive with love what I am about to say. All the effort that you, and I, put into these relationships will be worth more than we can estimate, and no cost is too great to bring those oldest relationships forward into our present days. I believe that you have those in your life who are waiting to hear from you. Don’t let them wait any longer.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 CSB Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, it is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.