Family

Family is on my mind a lot these days. November is an important month for my family as both Nat and Annette were born in this month. Today is Annette's birthday and Nat's was two weeks ago. Both had parties the day before with their friends and classmates.

This month I've been thinking of my parents and siblings too as my mom is preparing to sell the home I grew up in and called home for forty years. When I was in the house last January, after my father died, I "said goodbye" and knew I would not return.

Goodbyes are never easy; losing loved ones, seeing ones children growing up and losing their innocence (Nat becomes a teenager next year!), constantly seeing students graduating or returning to their home countries, and the list goes on. I've never been so social that I quickly make friends, and yet these past years in Nigeria seeing so many come and go has made it even harder to connect when I know that I might have to say goodbye in a relively short time.

It's a good thing I deal more with the here and now or I'd suffer from homesickness much more often than I do. Though I guess I am feeling more homesick than usual this past week. There was a group of Lutherans from the US here at the guesthouse for a few days, and I really missed not having time to connect more with them. It wasn't until they left that I realized how nice it was to connect with people from the church I grew up in; my Lutheran roots run pretty deep.

I guess that's one of the reasons why my faith is so important to me. In Luke 7:11-17, we read how Jesus reached out and physically touched a widow's dead son in an effort to bring the boy back to life and relieve the mother's suffering. In verse 13 Jesus spoke to the widow-mother and said, "Don't cry!" He reached out to her, not in pity or because he was uncomfortable or annoyed by her tears, but because Jesus stands for life. Anything related to death greives him deeply.

Jesus constantly and consistently showed compassion for those that came to him. I know for myself that His compassion and never-ending love is something that I need greatly.

I grew up in a family that hugged a lot, but that form of expression is not common in traditional Nigeria so I am fortunate that my kids are good huggers; Daniel and Annette are very affectionate and now and then I can still get a hug out of Nat and my husband has learned that sometimes I just need a hug.

Over the years there have been times when I have just had to reach up and claim a hug from my Father God and amazingly, I have always felt his overwelming love be returned. May you too claim and be touched by His love!