Beholding...
Thinking about family can bring up positive feelings or bring up negative feelings. Perhaps someone out there just has no feelings whatsoever. In this chapter, we are asked to behold God's example for family, specifically God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, and us as children adopted into His family. It is a wonder that God chose to communicate His perfect relationship with us as our Father through our broken ideas of what family should look like (page 62). On earth we are surrounded by imperfect people, so our understanding of family is imperfect. For this reason, we are asked to turn our gaze on what perfect unity does look like between God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- and WE get to be a part of that! In addition, we get to be family with one another in Christ. More encouraging words from the author tell us on page 65, "God uses imperfect families to reflect transformation through the saving and sanctifying work of the cross--one Christ-dependent relationship at a time." That statement is full of hope. No matter whether the idea of family conjures up good or bad emotions, there is hope because of the cross as we depend on Jesus in our relationships. List some ways your family has transformed over the years.
Becoming...
The mission field is in our home. I have heard this said in church; I've read it in various books. As a mom of three, I have taken this job quite seriously. Home is where children learn how faith is practiced, it's where they see it in action because there is no other place they spend more time than in the home (especially nowadays during "remote learning"). What do your children hear you talk about? How do they see you respond to things? How do they see you relate? Page 70 mentions God going to great lengths to instruct His children about instructing their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). There is a natural gravity for us to spiral downward. It takes great perseverance to keep our families faithful especially as our children and grandchildren are completely immersed in a secular world. My children are young adults living away from home and perhaps your children have left your home as well. Even though our mission fields may have grown beyond our kitchen table, do not give up. If your mission field is still actively at your kitchen table, do not give up. It is easy to become weary in this long journey which is why the author and artist paints these words on page 72-73: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
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