Families Are A Gift From God!

It seems like lately I have been realizing how fast life zooms by, and then it's gone. Not that I am obsessed by my mortality, but that we each have so many days layed out before us on earth and should be reminded of that once in a while.

I am so blessed to have the family God has given me, and I recognize that they are a gift. Since I work with so many families during the week I get to see the people that appreciate their loved ones and those who struggle with the "difficult" family members.

We all have them in our families, those who are easy to love and those who are not. I have come to a place in my life that I allow certain people to be close to me. Some individuals bring laughter, and some need me to make them laugh and smile. The ones that I don't allow close to me are the ones that bring harm, strife and confusion in to my "happy place".

There is one person in particular, I was forced to remove them from my "circle of friends". This person hurts everyone in her path, maybe not deliberately but always brings strife when she is around. Not everyone see it for what it is, but with God in our lives we don't have to live that that. It's like a hurricane passing through, nothing is left the same. Everything in it's path has been effected in some way. The Lord says live in peace, and sometimes you have to separate yourself from those that cause harm.

I know we all say and do things that hurt those around us, but if it is our pattern in life to hurt, manipulate at cause trouble; we have a problem!

Then there are others that bring joy to our lives. One of those special people is my son, Zack. He prefers to be called that; but to me he is and will always be Zechariah or Zechar as his cousin Melody use to call him.

He brings so much joy to my life, it is amazing how we spend so much time raising our kids to behave and make right choices. We spend hours trying to teach them to do right, and when they are teens we try to figure out where we went wrong. But then hope comes as they reach their 20's and 30's and they realize that you are not crazy and you might know something :).

That is where I find myself with my son, he may still think I am a little strange. We have that in common:), but we have a healthy relationship. I enjoy our talks on the phone, and love when he brings his family over. I absolutely LOVE my grandchildren and our times cooking and playing together. My only wish is that I had more time to spend with them. Then there is the glue that holds his family together, Bonnie. She is an incredible woman and Mother, she loves her family and always puts them first.

So my point is, I am blessed to have the family I have, and I thank God for the son I have. Many of my friends tell me how they are constantly fighting with their kids. I'm not saying we always agree, but we do try to respect one another's differences.
So I said all that to say; God has been good to me!