The Gift of Family

What a year it has been! How will we speak of these times a decade from now? As time goes by, our impressions of this past year will certainly change. How we feel today about dealing with a killer virus and all the chaos surrounding that is still fresh for all. I would assume that most of us right now are also holding those we love a little closer and hugging them a little harder. Hopefully, even if the fears and concerns of 2020 dissipate in the future, the way we feel toward our family should never leave us.

Stewardship is certainly about everything. God has given us so much, great and small, profound and common. One of the greatest gifts that all have received is family. Families take all shapes and sizes and some look very different than others. For some, family is a caretaker or temporary guardian. For others it is a friend when everyone else seems to have vanished. The bottom line is that, to quote a song from many years ago, “people need people.”

When God gave the world His only Son, the Incarnation did not come on a cloud or with a flash of light. He was born into a family. Jesus understood the gift of family all his life. Do you think that if having a family wasn’t important God would have still included this in the plan of salvation? As this year draws to a close, remember your stewardship many days begins and ends with the people closest to you. Don’t misuse or take for granted this precious gift. God gives us gifts on purpose, even to His only begotten Son.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS