Just Like a TV Family

Sometimes the realness of a broken world hits you harder at times than others. Sometimes we see but we don’t really see. Sometimes we hear but we don’t always hear. Sometimes it just takes a moment listening to a child to really get it.

There are seven kiddos in my house this week. It’s really not been that crazy… thanks to Tim being off of work this week! We’ve really fallen in love with each one. This week has been the first of many hard decisions re: fostering. We’re an emergency placement for some of the kids. We really want to keep them all here but number and ages won’t work for us. It’s hard even thinking about letting these kids go.

Last night at dinner we all sat around the table… and island… and spiderman kid table… and we prayed. We ate foods a lot of the kids had never had before. We laughed. We told each other our favorite and least favorite parts of our day. We call them our highs and lows. I read it on a blog a long time ago and every now and then we share them.

As we were finishing up some of the kids started to get up and play after they took care of their plates. We called them back to sit with us until everyone was done and we told them we just wanted to sit around the table and talk for a bit. One little girl piped up and said, “You mean just like a TV family?”

Sometimes the realness of a broken world hits you so hard you may think for a moment that you need to pick your heart up off the floor because it was just ripped out and thrown down there.

I replied, “Yes, my dear, just like a TV family.”

Sometimes we see but we don’t really see.

Sometimes we hear but we don’t really hear.

And sometimes we get a glimpse into the lives that are hidden right in front of us. Just miles away, in our own towns, in our own cities, in our own states. Oftentimes we think we need to travel to another country, to a bigger city, to somewhere else, and we don’t see the need right in front of us. We ignore people who don’t seem important to us.

Who is our neighbor, anyway? We neglect them. We neglect them because loving them seems like a small act. Loving them doesn’t always give you honor. But here they are, people who need people just like you.

Maybe the only “normal” these people/kids know is what happens on TV. And, let’s be honest, how “normal” are those TV shows, anyway? Enough to let kids see a noticeable difference.

What will they see in your life?

Dare to get close enough to your neighbors to let them read your life.

Dare to really love. Dare to listen. Dare to see. Dare to hear.

The Kingdom made manifest on earth first begins in your heart, then in your home, in your family, in your church, then all around you. Let it come!