The Power Of Family

I remember when I was home in Kenya after having lost my beloved Walter.

I felt so comfortable, at peace, and sheltered because my family was around me in such an amazing way, and one thing I thank God for is, family. Yes, they cannot be taken lightly because they are the support group, the skeletal structure that holds the whole system; It is what we learn to build life on. 

Each family, we must realize, is a unit that builds up the whole family of mankind. We all need that bond to make it through this life and wherever that structure is broken in one way or another, God has a counter plan;  

God gives homes and family to lonely people. He makes prisoners go free so that they are happy. – Psalm 68:6[EASY]

He plants the lonely into other families. He is a good God! 

That’s why family is very important, because when you have one, you can enjoy each other’s company but also, you can be silent and you don’t always have to say anything. It’s like the caterpillar in its cocoon, alone but sheltered! That’s amazing to me, and I remember the week before I was to come back to America, I was so afraid. 

I was afraid of what I would find when I walked into the apartment because my husband had just passed a few weeks earlier. 

Previously, he was always there. He always met me at the airport, and whenever I travelled, he would drop me there as well, but not this time round.

I was afraid of the memories left behind and how they would come back in numbers, and to some extent, when I walked into the apartment, some of my fears became real and I recall that first week I couldn’t even tell anybody how deep the sadness was in my spirit. 

I would wake up at peace, but there was also an overwhelming sadness that came with that that I truly thought would swallow me whole. I was just so sad to the extent that I felt that there was a part of me missing and it was heavy to the point of being tangible.

But I thank God that my sisters kept calling and Whatsapping me everyday just to check and make sure I was okay. I thank Him for that because when I came back, I didn’t really have a support group here to lean on but I thank God for Whatsapp. 

Not only did my sisters text, but my niece Michelle made sure that she always called. On the days I was not feeling like talking or saying anything, she would just be there on the other side of the video listening quietly and my, how that went a long way.

My brothers too were there. They would call and ask if I had any concerns, often stepping in with gifts of cash that really ministered to me because my husband was always concerned anytime I was going out; he would often ask, “do you need money?” 

My sisters were phenomenal as well. They came up with sweet deals, meals, salon treatments, in essence, just stuff that makes a woman feel pumped. 

That’s when I realized that men are the skeletal structure in families while women are the muscle-filler system and in the family, everyone has a role to fulfill and because of them, my healing process was accelerated by the attention I received from my family. For that, I thank God for where I am planted in my family. 

So I’d like to take this time to thank you Lord for the family that I have been born into. The legacy that our mother left us and the strength that you have put in each and every individual in my family, thank you. Thank you for the diversity and capacity in each person. Father I pray you multiply the grace in each one. 

See, I wouldn’t have made it without them and little by little, I started this journey of understanding that while I am alone, I am never really lonely. Actually, now I walk into the apartment and I’m kinda glad that it’s looking more like me and not like us. 

There’s this new atmosphere, and I thank the Father because I was afraid of what I would have to go through without Walter. 

Now, I understand that he was a special gift in my life for when I needed him and God took him just at the right time. For that, I give thanks to the Father for the time I had with him. I’ve also learnt something about myself; anytime there is a change, I am almost always resistant, at first. However, because I am now born of God, I mellow, ease in and transition to the change as the Lord helps and guides me.

Now I am enjoying these moments of ‘aloneness’ and while it’s hard sometimes not having anyone to speak with or to, I am cultivating a new normal that is comfortable with God’s help.

There is also the bigger family in God’s kingdom. I have great women of God in my life that are a stay in my sails for when my life boat fills with troubled waters. Some are far but always a phone call away and one is always available for weekly meetings. It is a good thing that we don’t have to do life alone, isn’t it?

I hope my words can help somebody else walk through grief and not stay in it longer than is necessary; remember, Jesus bore our grief and if I was able to do it, trust me, you too can walk through victoriously in all seasons. 

At the end of the day, we become strengthened and we become a life force to help somebody else.

So let’s take a moment to be grateful: 

Thank you for my family, thank you for those who You appoint into our lives to walk with us in every season. 

Thank you for your benevolence, your mercy, your omnipotence. 

Thank you for your bigness and thank you for your love: and most of all thank you for causing all things to work out for our good, for those You have called and love. [Rom 8:28]

Thank you Lord, amen.