definition of kin: "A group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a family, clan, tribe, or race."
definition of kinship: "Connection by blood, marriage, or adoption; family relationship."
i think about my family from time to time, and how different we all are. i got the japanese grandma who no one can understand, the papa with one of those giant stomachs that stick out really far, the crazy uncle who never got married and still lives at home, the other uncle who married twice and adopted a little girl from china, the aunt who has the barbwire tattoo around her wrist and can't make up her mind if she wants to live with him or not, the cousin who barely graduated from high school yet is making bank, the other cousin who grew out his hair long because he's in love with jim morrison, voodoo magic, and drinks in san fran, the step dad who's an asshole, the half-sister who is half mexican and a quarter japanese, six and innocent, the brother who i care about more than most and the mum who always knows where my missing stuff is and who i want to be young and free forever because she grew up too soon.
this is but a glimpse into my mum's side. but, no matter how different, how random, how weird or how complex we all are we are still a family and for some reason the bond of a family is very strong. i would do anything for any of them because of this unseen bond we share.
but this isn't my only family. i've also been adopted. i've been grafted in. i am part of the family of God. this family started with our father, father abraham (and yes he had many, many sons). i put these definitions prior because i believe God sees us as a kin, a kinship. we have a common ancestor, abraham. and even though most of us aren't actually jewish by descent Romans 9 or 10 says that we've been grafted in. we've been adopted by our Father.
i'm different than you and you're different than me. some of us are black, some brown. some of us are rich and some poor. some of us have already lived and some aren't born yet, but we are all apart of this family, this kinship under the banner of love.
this is how we should see ourselves. i ate dinner with mark, blair, katie, becky, garrett, alli, amanda, dale, jake, bizz, krista, courtney and anthony. i was just thinking about how we are more than friends. we are more than a group of people who have the same major. we are more than individuals sharing a meal. we are a kinship. and a kinship treats the other members with honor, humility and love.
there's more than what meets the eye.
LO
VE
nickraypack
