Is "blood is thicker than water" gospel??

Confession: Sometimes I don't pay attention in church and I have my own little mini-sermon quietly in my seat where I research different topics in my Bible. This is the result of yesterday's sermon which occurred in my lap:

Families are a powerful force in the church. "Honor thy father and mother," isn't really something that we have the option of since it is, after all, a commandment. But what Jesus says about families might surprise you, it surprised me after what I'd been raised to believe.

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you." He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Matthew 13:46-50

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:18-22

In my bible the previous passage is titled "The Cost of Following Jesus" and it rings true. There is a cost of following Jesus but just think of what joy you will have by making your family grow and having them all together in Jesus' kingdom one day.

I'm asked frequently if I'll be moving back home to be nearer my parents once I'm done with school, but if I'm following Jesus' calling that should not be my priority. I should be following Jesus' lead which means I will have no home and my family changes according to where I live.

I think this is a harsh truth that many Christians choose not to acknowledge because it gets in the way of their "creature comforts" of being near family. A common theme in the church is how important family is. But is it more important than following Jesus? Doesn't being away from those comforts force us to rely more on God?

 

Let's Get Real.

Real Honest. I don't like to cook. It's something I've recently come to terms with. I fell into the wifely trap where I felt as though I had to cook and I had to like it. But if I'm honest I have never been very good at it.

God blessed me with a husband who would eat gravel if I sat it in front of him and told him I'd cooked it and he wouldn't complain. He'd just add lots of salt.

There is nothing I cook (or if I'm being honest that anyone I know cooks) that I look forward to. Not like what I look forward to at a restaurant. Cooking is overrated. It's a lot of damn work and in my case it's never worth it.

The day I finally said it out loud to Drew was one day last week. I'd come home between school and work to put dinner in the crock-pot. A pinterest recipe: Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken. And from the moment I put it in, I dreaded the minute I would have to come home and eat it.

I admitted to Drew how I truly felt about cooking as I pushed the chicken around my plate and snuck most of it under the table to Ike.

I always felt good about cooking because I knew it was saving us money and I know that makes Drew happy. But I also know that Drew doesn't want me to eat cereal for dinner after he eats whatever mess I've prepared that day which had become the norm.

Another friend of mine who shares my view of cooking said someone told her recently:
 "You need to cook for your family." I call bull shit. I am a much more pleasant member of this family if I'm sitting across from Drew at a meal I didn't have to prepare, dread eating all day, try, be disappointed and then have to worry about the huge mess that's left.

Feel free to shake your head as you prepare a 5-course meal for your family tonight, go ahead and feel sorry for my future children and give Drew permission to seek a new wife. I'm no longer lying to myself. I don't like it and I suspect there are some of you out there who are right there with me.

This was sooo much better than Hawaiian crockpot chicken.