Family - Take it up with God!

This is my last week's Joyvotion. As always, if you want to sign up to get a free Joyvotion in your email once a week, email me at robbieiobst at hotmail dot com.

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

Ecclesiastes 3:4

John and I often look at our son and say, “Noah, we’re your parents. Take it up with God.”

I believe God uses all of life’s circumstances to build our character and draw us closer to Him. So it is logical that He would use our families to mold us into what He wants. Sometimes that means He allows us to go through difficult times with family. We all know, to different degrees, how that feels.

But I also believe that God uses the joy of family. This past week Noah and I travelled to Baxter Springs, Kansas to visit my Aunt Carol Jo and Uncle Henry. We also got to spend time with my cousin Bert and his family. We toured Baxter Springs, which didn’t take very long. We drove to Joplin, Missouri and ate and we took a stroll to Oklahoma. Uncle Henry spent some time teaching Noah about the Civil War history of Baxter Springs. My cousin Bert let Noah drive a tractor. Most of all, we visited and laughed. And I got to just be with my aunt whom I adore.

A wonderful time.

I have a “colorful” family. And I love the colors. My mom and dad were both raised in Texas, so many of my relatives have a southern twang when they speak. Add to that the language of many of my aunts and uncles and you get a unique group of folks. Profanity is used with the care of an artist’s brush. Nothing blasphemous, just…colorful. Plus, they use idioms that I feel are gems like: “He’s as worthless as spit in a puddle” or “Don’t go having a squealing worm fit.”

So visiting Carol Jo and Henry was a blast for me.

But I didn’t choose to be in this family. I didn’t ask to be in a family that makes me laugh so hard I cry or be in a family in which both my parents died before Noah was five. As that old saying goes we get to choose our friends but not our family.

God has taught me a lot through my family. Acceptance and honesty. Unconditional love. And of course, the joy of playing dominoes until late and visiting just for the sake of telling stories. I look at Noah and I hope he learns some good lessons from our family too. Time will tell.

Tonight, I was thinking about this Joyvotion and I asked Noah, “What is the best thing about our family, Noah?”

He answered, “The kindness. The love.”

Surprised, I asked him, “Are you being serious?”

Quick as a flash he said, “No. It’s the fact that we can afford video games.”

I’m Noah’s mom. I’ll take it up with God.