Have you ever sat in a room and observed your family? I am talking about the extended family that you rarely see all together except at reunions, weddings or funerals.  I had the opportunity to observe mine at my grandmother’s funeral earlier in the week.  It brought some interesting thoughts to mind. 

One of the random thoughts flowing through my brain is that you don’t choose your family.  I mean, friends you have because you have some similarity or something in common, therefore they are kind of like you in some way or another.  But you are born into your family.  You would think that being from the same gene pool would make you all alike (more alike than strangers turned friends anyway) but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  There may be some physical likeness but that is where the commonality stops.  In fact, I find myself wondering how did we all come from the same bloodline?  We are as different as night and day.  And have you noticed that every family is this way?  There are tall, small, shy, and funny cousins.  Everyone has at least one crazy aunt or uncle and there are always a couple of black sheep scattered throughout the flock.  Some family members get along wonderfully and others can barely stand to be in the same room together.  It is really a wonder at how this happens so consistently no matter how functional or dysfunctional a family is.

But when there is a need, in this case a death of a loved one, there they all are.  Supporting each other even though they can’t always remember which branch of the tree others come from.  It is a great and wonderful thing to watch.  As I try to explain to my little branches how they fit into this big tree, I find that if any one person is missing the picture is incomplete.  Somehow now that I am a grown up it makes more sense to try to know more about how my family is related.  After all, this week we lost a big branch.  I don’t want to loose her legacy just because she isn’t present here on earth anymore.  It makes her life all the more important to share…so we won’t forget her place in our tree.

You see family is tied together by more than common interests.  We are tied together by blood.  Blood cannot be changed, even if there are times you want it to.  To be in this bloodline is something that I have no control over and yet I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Family is important; it is vital.  God knew that when he created families.  He knew there would be tension sometimes.  He planned the good times.  He was there from the beginning of our families and he chose us specifically to hold up our branch.  The diversity of family personalities was his idea.  The blood connection was his choice for us.  It runs deep.  We can ignore it but we can’t change it.  It is our legacy.  It is His legacy.  His blood covers us all.