I am thankful for my missionary family. I grew up in South Dakota in my immediate family of four. No relatives in SD. For a while we had relatives in Minnesota but then they moved to California. So, for most of my growing up years, our nearest (geographically) relatives were in Kansas, about 9 hours away by car.
Therefore, I learned at an early age that family doesn't always have to do with bloodlines and biology. Our family grew when we moved to South Dakota. I now have 'aunts' and 'uncles' and 'cousins' and 'nieces' and 'nephews' and 'grandparents' who, I suspect, are nowhere near biologically related.
When I moved to Japan, I, like my parents, moved far from biological family. But, I walked right into a family. We get together for holidays, for fun days, hang out, get frustrated with each other, and pray for each other. We do have to have business meetings together, too!
I am thankful for the way God provided this family for us. This doesn't mean our biological family is replaced, it means that our family has grown. God has added blessings to my life because of this mission family.
As with my biological family, there is the immediate family and then cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. I have several missionary friends who also feel like family but are not part of the immediate NAB mission family. I am thankful for these family members, too!
1 comment:
Love the photo of the group in front of the wild flowers - so beautiful.
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