The Importance of Second Family

Hey everyone (Mom, Hi!), this whole weekly blog post thing is getting to be a fun routine! I'm just over here getting into the habit of wearing my blue blocker glasses at night while using my phone, computer, and/or television. I had heard of lots of people in the health & fitness world using these yellowish-orange glasses to help decrease melatonin (and other sleepy hormone) suppression while on technological devices in the evenings and got a great deal on them at Amazon. So far, I've only worn them one night, but I will tell you I slept the ENTIRE night, which hasn't happened in awhile. I also like using Melaleuca essential oils to help with calm and sleepiness. Typically, I use their "Peace" blend, or straight up lavender; I either diffuse or just put a few drops straight onto my pillowcase. As I continue to use the blue blockers, I'll give you more of an update, because maybe I was just really exhausted last night after doing my taxes and watching another devastating KU basketball loss. 

Add to list of "Reasons Jen is single" ;)

Anywho, in this post I wanted to focus on the importance of second family. Now, if you know me at ALL, you know my parents and brother are the top 3 earthly people in my life (obvs Jesus is numero uno), and their importance and roles in my life are book-worthy, not "I only have a few short paragraphs before I lose followers"-esque. So, as you saw in the title, I need to talk about my "second" family. 

Before getting too far, I will preface the following paragraphs by saying everyone's second family is probably going to be different. I like to think that second family is a group of a few (or several, for you weird extroverts) people a person trusts, spends time with, and is close-knit with. For some of you, this is probably your work family, your gym buddies, or maybe even your weekend party buddies. For me though, as some of you may have guessed, my second family is my church family. 

I spoke in a previous post about how approximately 40 people from a larger church in Fort Worth planted a brand-new church, Living Hope Bible Church, in Mansfield this past summer. I wasn't really close to anyone at the bigger church, and I already lived in Mansfield, so I was like "Yeah, I'm going with the church plant! I'll save gas money and it'll be more like a small church in Kansas. Let's do this!" I'll admit those reasons are uber selfish, and I didn't realize how life-altering if would actually be. 

Never before have I been involved in a church so close-knit, so transparent, and really so raw as LHBC. In my life, I've been part of some solid churches, but frequently felt like it was a see you Sunday and Wednesday, and I'll pray for you a couple of times during the week if I get around to it, type of thing. With a group as small as ours, we are basically one giant family who shares in our struggles and our triumphs, the awesome parts of life and frankly, the sucky parts of life. This is why I call them my FAMILY.

Growing up there were always kids who bonded with other families and became honorary "children" of those families, and that was never really my style. I loved my family and those three people were all I needed. Then I moved 500 miles away from the three people I love most, and after some time found myself craving that familial attachment. Through LHBC that's exactly what I've found. And you know the best part? It's not about me. It's not about them. Ultimately, it's about Jesus. 

I haven't recently gone through a ton of earth-shattering issues in my life, but in the little hiccups and hard parts, I've found solace in this second family.  There are people who ask you "how are you?", then move on and could care less what your response is. Then there are people who genuinely ask how you are and don't let it go until you actually tell them, regardless of how tough it is to voice it. I love this and am thankful for people like this. Everyone has very different strengths and weaknesses, and to see how they all tie together to become one big imperfect blessing is pretty neat. 

So, whether your second family is your coworkers, your church family, or if you're blessed enough to actually live close to your first family, I hope everyone finds a few people to pour their life into and have the same done for them in return. I also hope that ultimately what happens is that through your sharing of lives, you're pointed to the One who created His big family, because eternally nothing else really matters. 

Finally, to those of you in my second family who have made it all the way to this point in the post, thank you sincerely from my heart for loving Jesus and loving me. :) Blessed is an understatement.

PS Who is your second family?

PPS I'm running in WACO this weekend! Can't wait to finally BLOG about a race next week! Stay tuned!

Twitter: @jen_being_jen

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