Sweet T

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2

Do you know offhand how many T-shirts you own? Could you make an educated guess how many you’ve owned in your lifetime? Maybe you remember one or two that had a logo or saying that really expressed what you felt.

T-shirts usually reveal some information about the wearer. My sweet friend Brenda asked me if I had seen the one advertising a Functional Family Conference. When I said no, she described it to me. It showed a picture of a large auditorium, but there was only one person in attendance! Oh, I could have worn a Functional Family Conference T-shirt for the first twenty-eight years of my life. My worst memory was when I was twelve. My mom and I were shopping, and Mama asked the sales clerk, “Where are the size-ten chubbies, please?” I was so embarrassed that I wanted to run out of the mall.

But as I grew up and matured and started my own family, I soon realized that there are no perfect families anywhere on this earth, not even in God’s family. When we trust in Christ, we become God’s children forever. He shares His mind and values and character with us (1 Corinthians 2:16) so we learn how to function as part of His healthy, holy family.

We all have some painful memories in our human families that we would like to erase because God’s children can make a mess of things here on earth. But we will eventually enjoy an eternity of enriching, fulfilling family times together beyond what we’ve ever longed for in this life.

There’s no more uplifting way to live than as part of His growing family.

Let’s sleep in our favorite sweet T-shirt tonight and rest in the fact that, regardless of our past, we belong in God’s good, pleasing, and perfect family!