It's a Family Affair

Tuesday

As I woke this morning, the title of this post came to me. Yes, it evokes Buffy, Jody, and Mr. French, and the "Da da da daaa....da da da daaa" Lawrence Welk genre theme song from the 1960's or possibly Sly and the Family Stone's funkier take on the subject. But as I've been thinking about going out and finding others' burdens to bear, I realize that in each family a veritable smorgasbord of burdens is neatly displayed.

I know "family" means many different things. It could be church family, work family, extended family, or any other kind of group with which one associates, but what I want to explore in this post is the immediate family--one's spouse and children, and go ahead and throw in your parents and siblings, just in case there's not enough burden-sharing to be done inside the walls of your own home.

Burden-sharing begins at home. The stronger the support of each other within the family, the more effective the support outside the family. Said another way, if anything is amiss within your family, it's more difficult to be concerned with others--that's when the tables turn and you become the one who needs someone else to bear your burdens, which is the reciprocal aspect of Galations 6:2.It's equally important to allow someone else to help you as it is to help others.

In the family, each member must encourage the other, mainly because it's tough in the world: if we can't encourage each other in the family, how can we expect this to happen outside the family?

Today, I looked for ways to encourage my family. I texted one son that I was proud of him, I told another in person that he was a great kid, and I encouraged another son with a problem he was having. I told my wife how awesome she was before I left for work and again this evening--NOT that she needed twice the encouragement!!! (But hey, every little bit counts. :))

May God bless our families with the richness and fullness of his grace, mercy, and love!! Amen.