Easter - reflections on my family

Last weekend we were lucky enough to host most of my family for Easter. We enjoyed good food together, took a family portrait and were able to celebrate both Good Friday and Easter Sunday in worship. Being 8 hours (or more) away from my family in Canada makes these times, rare as they are, all the more special, especially now that we have a baby. It was so neat to see my brother and sisters interact with little Brennan, and to see my parents, especially my mom, just oggle and dote on him. I know they loved coming down, I know they loved seeing him (for the first time) and I know they wish they could do it more often.

Easter is the most special and significant holiday in the year, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. And as Christians, we live and celebrate as a community - one family. But the family of our blood, when we are united in faith, has an especially significant bond. As I've gotten older I've come to appreciate this fact more and more. I can sit here and joke about the idiocyncracies of my family, the little quirks that make it odd - I can even lament not having this or that - but it's worthless. Because that is my family, and the more time I spend with them the more I realize how blessed I am to have them. I realize how much I love them.

When I look at my son, I can't help but gush with love for him. And in that, I can't help but imagine how my parents felt about me, their love for me. I realize that no one is perfect. Parents do the best they can with what they have. They do the best they can for their kids and hope that it will work out. My parents did that for me, and I love them for that.

I wish I could spend more time with them. I wish they could spend more time with their grandson - their nephew. But right now, that's not possible. Maybe in the future that will be - I hope so. In the meantime, I will have to enjoy the times we do have together. I'm looking forward to a reunion in June, and hopefully having my little sister and brother down for a week in July. They're my family, and I love them...