Siblings

Ezekiel was tough and long, but I am moving on and catching up. Today, the obvious was an epiphany. I was reading I John and he is speaking about being children of God. I John 3:2 brought the "Aha" moment. No wonder, that as Christians, we have so many denominations and such a hard time getting along. We are siblings, spiritually.

I know there are some families that always get along, where sibling disputes are not a big deal. I married into one, but I wasn't raised in one. While we didn't fight much, we didn't engage much either. We were almost indifferent to each other, but we loved each other. Then Dad died and the garbage was dumped. Like all garbage, it stank for a time. We all handled our grief differently. Some of us more positively than others. My only sister, the baby of the family, became my rock.
This isn't my best shot, but my sister, Marianne, looks great. For years we had no relationship at all and now I don't know how I made it all that time without her love and support. We are family and I am so glad.
On the other hand there is a brother I am not so close to anymore. Family history has crowded in and brought separation. I still love him, but we seem to get along better from a distance.
There is an old saying, "You can't choose your family." It's true both physically and spiritually, but while we can't choose who they are, we can choose to love them.
Whether it is hard or not, love is a choice. I know my sister feels it was worth it to make the choice to love me, and pursue a relationship with me. It was a conscious decision on her part after a conversation with our hair dresser. (Thank you Linda Renay).
There are people in my life, through church and other Christian arenas, that are not as easy to love as others, but I am going to make the effort for them that my sister made for me. They are family too. We all share one Heavenly Father, and that alone makes them worth it.