Mi Nueva Familia

     Servant. What does it mean to be a servant? According to Merriam Webster, a servant is someone who performs duties to help another. So how does this relate to the family? It relates to the family because, when in a family, sacrifices are performed (well, should be). Recently, I attended Faithful Servant Leadership Retreat. People there taught me how to be sacrificial with time, wants, desires, preferences, and their will over another's.

     How have you been a servant to those around you? How can you be a better one? In your family, who do you admire the most for their selflessness? Do you want to be like them?

     A family is a group of people that help you, challenge you, heal you, cry with you, suffer with you, laugh with you, and take care of you. Before Faithful Servant, I thought it almost impossible that  I would find someone who I could be real with, but I prayed anyway that I would find that one person. I was completely taken by surprise when I found not only one, but many people who I could turn to. God answered my prayers. When I thought of giving up, He reached down and said, "Chin up, My child. Believe in Me. Believe in yourself. Believe in others."

     On Faithful Servant, I set out to be a blessing to those around me. Not only did I do so, but they blessed me beyond measure. If I had to sum up the family I found in one sentence, I would say this: "They are the incarnation of Christ's pure, sacrificial, holy, strong, burning love and it strikes those who witness it speechless."

(Now, please do not think that was sacrilegious of me to say).

     Have you ever experienced that love? I had never before known that could exist in a friend. In a non-blood-related family. It is still so unexplainable to me. I composed a poem to try and sum up the passion inside my heart:

There

Adrift and searching,

For incredible love.

Desperately pleading,

To One above.

Needing companions,

A confidant, a shield.

Someone to lean on,

Someone to heal.

Going out on a limb,

Afraid and shy.

Spying someone alone,

Deciding to try.

Conversation begins,

Smiles shine at no cost.

Finding new friends,

When all seemed lost.

Sharing with others,

Beginning from the start.

Discovering trust,

Healing my heart.

Unexpected and treasured:

My new family.

Valuable, loved,

Serendipity.

   

Of course, we all have our quirks (like every family has). We have argued from time to time. (I always say this): but things do not grow inside comfort zones. We can either let the little or big things destroy us or we can let it build us up together, into a tight bond that no one will break but God Himself, if it is His will. A family is like music: a combination of high notes and low notes, but a beautiful song. To the world, we may be "another family." But to each other, we are the world (our Faith being at the center).



     We will grow in separate directions. Some will get closer to others, and some may grow apart. Family, though, is like a tree: many leaves, one tree (#TheMovieEpic). There are many branches, growing in different directions, but they all stem from the same thing.

     Also, the tree we create as a family is not the same without one of its branches. When one of those branches dies, breaks, or something else- the tree changes. It is not the same. What does the tree do? It does what it can to repair the damages done to its branch(es). Only when it is repaired, does the tree stop. Occasionally, it will do a check up on the branch (to be sure it's okay). Then, the tree proudly shows off its scars because they are proof of getting back up, rising above the pain, saying to the world: you cannot destroy this bond; you will not break what makes us whole.

Omnia majoram ad Dei Glorium