Fambly

I love the way Anne Lammott coined the word "Fambly" to write about her interactions with her family.

It captures, perfectly, the sense of brokenness and dsyfunction (some mild, some severe) that is part of the fabric of every human family; and it captures, perfectly, the love and allegiance and loyalty and longing that binds our heart to our not-perfect-families, Our Fambly.

Today, we are saying goodbye to Jenny's fambly and saying hello to mine.

Our time with Jenny's fambly has been rich. We've spent time together with everyone on the coast; we've explored Jenny's dad, Ron's, roots in Weaverville, CA; we've seen Jenny's two grandmothers and had a special time with her grandmother Wanda hearing more about the early days of Ron's life; this past week we've had time to slow down in Redding, eat meals together, swim at the pool, etc.

One of the special aspects of our time together - from my perspective - is that we haven't just talked about surface things. We've been able to dig a little deeper: into each other's personalities and family history; we've discussed wounds; we've had times to repent and forgive; we've had times of sharing our hearts; we're learning how to name our sins and blind spots. So it's been a good and rich time with Jenny's fambly.

Now we're going to see my fambly, who I love with a deep loyalty (that's why I think I related to the Godfather (1) movie; I understand that strong passion of family love and loyalty). I'm really looking forward to seeing them AND I know that I'll have to work on all of my heart issues in my relationship to them; with Jenny's family I have a little more of an outside, objective perspective; with my own fambly, the loves, wounds, struggles are much more gutteral and primal. But I know that, just as with Jenny's family, God's grace is going to suprise me again and again with HIS workmanship.

And, in the midst of all this connecting to both of our extended families, we are driving in the car with our own Fambly. There I can, sadly, observe my own sin and brokenness creating wounds and pain in my children's life; there I can see the bonds of loyalty, love and allegiance woven together with sadness, wounds, our dysfunction. Surely every fambly needs a Savior and this morning I'm rejoicing that we have one: Jesus Christ the Great Physician and the Prince of Peace.

- Jason