Episode 51

TODAY’S READING:

A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:17

 

Monday already! 

 

I am staying with my family at a condo in Longboat Key, Florida. About four hours from where I live. I can see the beach from where I am writing this devotional. The waters are absolutely beautiful. There is a calming that comes with the sounds of the waves crashing on the sand. I promise you it looks like a scene out of my favorite Nicholas Sparks movie, which is The Last Song, for anyone wondering. 

 

My favorite people in the world are here with me. My mom, and my sisters, all of our significant others, along with my Godmother, her three children, and my aunt and her three kids. This is my family. All seventeen of us. It’s been two years since we’ve all vacationed together, but when we are together, it’s like if nothing has changed. 

 

This perfect picture wasn’t always perfect. We’ve had some difficulties like every family. We’ve faced our storms straight on – together. The world tried to shake us to our core, and for a while, I was convinced the enemy had won. There was a season of a lot of heartaches and a lot of loss. But if my family’s testimony can prove anything, it’s that God is good, and if you allow Him the time he needs to repair, mend, and strengthen any situation, we will always come out as victors. 

 

I pray this week you take the time to love your family a little harder. I hope you look at your siblings, and you hold them, and you laugh with them. If you have the ability to talk to your parents, call them. If you’re all in the middle of a storm together, remember that God is working. He is a redeeming God. He is a loving Father. He is a perfect father. 

 

PRAYER

Father, thank you for your family. Thank you for our blended, imperfect, complicated families. Thank you for the time we can spend together; thank you for the storms we face together. Thank you for blessing us with parents, siblings, aunts, and cousins. I pray if anyone is suffering from traumas at home, that their heart is healed. I pray they know that you are a perfect Father and can fill any hole an earthy family has caused them. Remind them they have a heavenly family protecting them. I pray they lean onto you. For those of us working to mend relationships with our loved ones, I pray you to guide us in communication. In everything we do, we lean on you. We love you, in your mighty name we pray, Amen!