Family Tree...

As the saying goes, you can choose your friends but not your family.  While at a women’s conference at my church recently I was reminded that Jesus Christ’s lineage began with Rahab, a prostitute who was redeemed through her faith.  Hearing this story was very timely as I navigated feelings and emotions after learning that my biological father, with whom I have been estranged for the past thirty five years, had a stroke and his prognosis was grim and dire.   Not that I am comparing my family tree to Jesus’ by any stretch of the imagination, however, the past couple of days have provoked some serious soul searching.  In contemplating my thoughts, I do not want nor is it my place to judge him or anyone for that matter because I realize my glass house would not withstand any reciprocated judgment.  I was reminded at the conference; however, that what I am called to do is be the hands, feet and love of Christ to a hurt, broken and dying world.

At the conference, one of the speakers said that we could have been born at any point in time but God selected this day and age for our existence because he predestined a task for us; we have a purpose and a mission to bring glory to God’s kingdom.  I have long dreaded this day, the day when I would face my biological father’s mortality and any potential decisions and responsibilities that ensued.  Just as God preordained my existence, His hand is all over this situation.  I could have been born to anyone, at any time, to a “perfect” family with storybook interactions and marriages where everyone lived happily ever after.  Had that happened though, I would not have been able to look into the teary eyes of a wife whose marriage is in despair, pray for a daughter whose relationship with her father is severed, and truly, honestly and from the bottom of my heart say “ I understand what you’re going through.”  See, I believe we go through the trials and tribulations that we do so that we can hold the hand of someone and help them see through the forest of desperation and heartache.

Facing the challenges of the past couple of days, I realize the events are playing out just as they were intended.  No other point in time would I have been able to offer the mercy, forgiveness and love of Jesus to pray for my biological father.  I did not realize, know or fathom until now that God was healing and preparing me, at my paternal grandmother’s funeral, at the women’s conference just this past weekend, etc., for this exact moment in time.  I am truly absorbing into my soul that, where we began is not as important as where we end.  A race’s finish line would not be as gratifying had we not previously put in the hard work of training and actually running the race; a trophy for participation, without sweat, is not as sweet.

So, again I say, you cannot choose your family…but perhaps the question is not who God entrusts us to, per se, as much as who He entrusts to us.