Love Story

July 2008

We live in the era of the nuclear family—mom, dad and the kids. In some cases it’s mom or dad and the kids. Grandma and grandpa, uncles, aunts and cousins may be scattered from Hoboken to San Francisco.

Growing up, Mama and I were definitely a nuclear family because we lived alone, miles from Grandpa and Aunt Jennie and Cousin Wilfred. The rare times the relatives grouped together, I cherished. During the lonely lulls, I fingered my memories recalling the feelings of wholeness their presence gave me.

In the Bible, God makes sure we understand the significance of extended family. Didn’t he require the Israelites to camp by tribes in the wilderness? He made sure that those kids were insulated by Uncle Sammy and Aunt Rachel in the next tent.

Families are just as important today. But what about those who don’t have uncles and cousins and grandmas and aunts to insulate them with love? Or whose relatives are too preoccupied with their own troubled lives? God has made a provision for them, too.

Imagine yourself as that provision for a specific person in your biological or Christian family who needs help right now. “Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)

Pray meditatively for concrete ways to provide that help. For one set of grandparents I know, the answer was extreme. They stepped in and raised their grandson after his parents divorced and his mother developed mental health issues. For an aunt, it was to provide a warm welcome and loving arms for a niece whose own parents were in a chaotic state. For an older Christian man, it was to be a father figure to a young person whose family disowned her when she left their religion and embraced Christ.  

Practice God’s love Picture a child grunting and sweating his way uphill, a heavy pack strapped to his back. You spot him up ahead, hurry to his side and help him carry the load the rest of the way.  Not like Simon from Cyrene, who carried Jesus’ cross because he was conscripted. You do it out of love.

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