Does it matter how many possessions we accumulate, how much money, prestige or career success we attain if we have no one with whom to share it?
We are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, grandmas, grandpas, nieces and nephews. Whether our families live in the same home, next door, across town, across the country, across the world, or even across heaven, we are surrounded by family members who could be for us a network of encouragement, faith, support, and love--if we simply took the time to reach out.
How do you build your family relationships?
Growing a strong, love-based relationship takes a lot of patience, thoughtfulness, forgiveness, and proactive acts of loving kindness. There is much nurturing, nourishing, weeding, and watering to be done. But the end result of a "family garden" full of flowers and trees and shrubs provides a haven of peace. The garden is well-worth the effort.
I had an experience over ten years ago that taught me this lesson in a very profound way. I was living in Portugal at the time, and this experience taught me many unique life lessons--one of which was the importance of family relationships. In a place where very few spoke English, my family became my best friends. I was four years older than one sister and six years older than my youngest sister. Before our mission, I considered them to be my sweet, fun little sisters, but had rarely played with them since entering my "teenage years." During that first year in Portugal though, everything changed. They became my everything. We shared secrets and stories. We created movies and slideshows and Sunday lessons. We laughed and cried and sometimes quarreled and got angry. And together with my mom, we literally became best friends.
The second year was even better than the first, but as it came to a close, I knew that I would soon be leaving my family to go back to the US to attend college. It was an abrupt and halting thought as I considered that my childhood was quickly coming to an end. It was time to grow up. One night, as I contemplated the relationships we had built over the past two years, I realized there was more I needed to do before I left. One of my sisters needed more of me. I knew I could do better. I could be more patient and loving and friendly and kind.
So I prayed to be given "a mission" from the Lord. And through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, He called me to be "a gardener." Through personal revelation I felt that I was in a unique position as an older sister to instill self-esteem, confidence, and love in my younger sister in a way that no one else could. I was prompted to pull out a clean sheet of white paper and with red, purple, and pink markers, draw a small flower on the paper every time I performed for my sister an act of service, love, patience, or confidence-building.
I worked hard and planted diligently and witnessed our sisterhood flourish in ways I had never imagined. After several months, my paper was filled with a beautiful flower garden, and while I hope it made a difference for my sister in some small way, looking back, I realize that I was the one who most benefitted. To this day my sister remains one of my dearest and truest friends.
And so I extend the challenge to you...
Will you accept the call to be a gardener? Will you plant seeds of love, time, memories, forgiveness, and acts of kindness in your circle of family members?
A richly abundant garden awaits you...
31 Days to Peace Index
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