Family impressions

Families... Families are many things to many people. There are I believe many different models and forms. Each is different both in shape and in its dynamics. That is because each of us are different and unique, so it stands to reason that every family in the world is different.
I have been reflecting on families this Holy week. Families out and about on school holiday get-aways, families sitting by the bedside of loved ones in the hospitals I serve. Families where there is break up and unhappiness. Families where members have literally disappeared, such as the Malaysia airlines flight and the South Korean Ferry disaster.
I once heard tell that in the bible there are so many different models of family (I can't remember the exact number) and I guess that is right, because who can actually define what a family has to look like.
My family has changed over the years, I suppose all of our families do, we grow up, we meet people along the journey who join us. Sadly some of these relationships are transitory and we lose people or make an active decision to walk away from people who are destructive. But each connection we make, each person we call family leaves an impression on us. Sometimes the impression is one that reminds us of the danger signs and calls us to proceed with a little caution, but thankfully impressions are also reminders and mind-jogs of the good in our family, our friends and ourselves.

I am blessed in having had people in my life whose impression have and still do offer to me goodness, happiness, wisdom and a fair share of fun. As I ponder on these folks and their contribution to who I have become and continue to become, I wonder, what impression do I leave on others? Not a "I hope I made a good impression and that they like me" kind of thing, but a do I leave hope and love with people? Extending this I wonder, what kind of impression does my family leave on people?

I am certain after the antics of my children this week some people will forever believe that the Happy Ever After Fairy and Batman can pop up in the most strange places - The Crown Jewels, the Natural History museum and the Good Friday walk of witness. Everyone needs something to smile at, (Beefeaters included) and they certainly caused a lot of smiles on their travels. I wonder if also in a small way, Batman telling the whole carriage on the train that he loves his mummies, made an impression.

You see I don't think my family is a threat to society or to the institution of marriage. I think it is just one family amongst thousands. A family which currently includes Batman and the Happy Ever After Fairy, but tomorrow may have the 'coming down off Easter Eggs' Monsters. A family that happens to have 2 mummies, 1 daddy, 3 Grandpas, 2 grandmas, and an awesome host of aunties, uncles, cousins and godparents.

We are unique as a family yet we are the same as other families. One day, I believe, I wont have to write cynical grumpy letters and blogs to authority figures and groups who believe my family leaves no impression of worth or goodness in the world. On this day, this day of hope in the Christian calendar, I am thankful for my family in its uniqueness and in its impression making. Tomorrow I will be thankful as I was thankful yesterday, and will continue to be so.

So whatever your family looks like, whoever your family is made up of; those gone before us, those to come, those we mourn and those we miss, may this day, this night and onward be one of hope, one of love and one that leaves impressions upon others. Because the person whose resurrection, Christians celebrate today, certainly had a family make up that made an impression on the world.

May the blessings of love, hope, goodness, wisdom and fun, be with you and yours this Easter and always.