Corona Devo 2058

What do cheeseburgers, burnt pepperoni bread, and steamed clams all have in common?

(Hint: It sounds like a complicated riddle, but it's not.)

The answer is: family.

~~~

Cheeseburgers, burnt pepperoni bread, and steamed clams are all meals that I have enjoyed lately with our family and extended family.

The cheeseburgers were good!  
(To me) the pepperoni bread was not even edible.
And--I've never even (wanted) to try clams, but...(my point is), the food didn't matter because it was the family gathered around the table(s) that did.

It doesn't even matter what we serve or sit down to eat...it is much more the experience of who we are gathered to enjoy it with. 

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.  ~Exodus 20:12

Might we think (or experience) that it honors our father's and mother's (and other fmaily members) when we take a moment, an evening, an afternoon...to visit, to listen, and to invest in them?  Meals are such a conducive way to do this, and I have a feeling that the menu doesn't matter half as much as the meaningful feast-for-our-hearts that family time provides.  

Have supper with your parents: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12).

~~~

The burnt pepperoni bread was entirely my fault.  I had thought that my roasted potatoes were in the oven when I turned it on and then went for a walk with a cousin visiting from out of town.  But instead, my poor pepperoni bread cooked for a long walk, and then...it was far overcooked.

The bread was burnt and mostly hardened, and just plain ugly.  I wanted to throw it away.

That is often the case with family also..or some members of our families.  It's not perfect, in fact, relations within families can be strained, hardened, and sometimes just plain ugly.  

It seems easier to not gather.  To cut difficult people out of our lives and our dinner gatherings.  And sometimes we even throw away certain family relationships altogether.  

But, I have a secret for us that might be hard to swallow: discarding our (difficult) family is not God's way.  

• Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  ~Colossians 3:13 

• Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.  ~I Timothy 5:8 

• Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  ~I Peter 4:8

I served the pepperoni bread anyway, even though it humbled and embarrassed me to do so.  And wouldn't you know it, there was a (kind, gracious) cousin seated at our table that actually enjoyed it (or so she said).

I think (and God says) that the same is true for our family relations.  It's not always perfect and pleasing to the eye.  We must be willing to tough-it-out sometimes in the name of love.  We might not see eye-to-eye/vote the same way/raise our kids with the same structures/spend or save in the same ways...but without family...what do we have? 

This is God's point when He advises us to compromise/work/humble-ourselves in order to maintain family.  It's worth it, and family is a huge (and fulfilling) part of God's blueprint for our lives here on earth.

• Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  ~Proverbs 22:6  

• How good and pleasant it is when brethren live together in unity!  (2) It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.  (3) It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

• For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?  ~I Timothy 3:5

• ...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (2) Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (3) Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (4) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism (6) one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.~Ephesians 4:1-5

So...gather the family around today, or one day soon.  Serve a favorite traditional family dish...order out...or muddle through a mistaken meal (like my pepperoni bread).  But, let's eat with our hearts and family-heritage rather than worry too much about what's on our plates.  

Family is best served together.  

• We love because he first loved us.  ~I John 4:19  

• And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Family: it sounds like a complicated riddle, but it's not.

Blessings,  

sarah  

Https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com