Webster's dictionary: FAMILY- A group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head united by certain convictions.
Now being the non-creative person that I am, I went with The Van Wart Family. But I dug deeper with the description. Who is our head? What's important to us? What are our convictions?
Moments.
one thousand gifts is a book I am reading. The meat of the book deals with "eucharisteo" meaning "he gave thanks". Eucharisteo envelopes the word for grace, charis. It also holds its derivative, chara, meaning joy.
Grace, thanksgiving, joy. Eucharisteo
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God" (Psalm 50:23).
When we live in the moments given to us everyday, with thanksgiving, we unwrap the gift of joy. One of my favorite quotes from the author, Ann Voskamp, is "life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change".
So our family lives in moments with thanksgiving. It means when you have a boiling pot of water on the stove, running water in the sink, and your phone is ringing, you still bend down, look your daughter in the eyes and listen to every word of the song she has been dying to sing to you. Those are the moments we don't get back. Ones we thank God for. Ones that give us our greatest joys.
Blessings.
"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19)
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 3:10).
We.Are.Blessed. Our Father, sacrificed his only Son, for us. All of us. What greater blessing will we ever receive? And yet, daily, I feel unbelievably blessed. My Savior, my husband, my children, my family, my friends...my cup runneth over.
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved" (Eph. 2:4-5).
Love.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails" (1 Cor. 13:4-8).
This is what we want for our family. In our home, we talk about what love means. I want my children to be kind and humble. I want them to be generous and content. And know who loved them first.
"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Col. 3:14)
Moments. Blessings. Love.
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Very, very cool. I especially like the Greek bit. It's a nice reminder of why the Church has, from its earliest days, referred to the sacrament of communion as the Eucharist. Anyway, well done.
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