Friday, October 8, 2010

Love One Another...Even in our Differences...

 
Recently I had a conversation with someone who had decided to not attend an event because there was going to be a family at this event who is...different.  Different from her family and different from mine.  I was taken aback that I was actually hearing this in the year 2010.  How is this possible?  It would have never occurred to me to NOT attend this event because there would be a family there who is different than mine.  I then realized how lucky my family is to live in a diverse community.

As I thought about it more I became Thankful.  

Thankful that I don't live my life like that.  

Thankful that we are surrounded by families who are different than we are.  

Thankful that I get to have conversations with my boys about the fact that not all families look like ours.  I get the opportunity to talk to the boys about kindness...tolerance...peace...and respect.

There are all different types of families...cultures...religions...lifestyles...ideas...


Love is what makes a Family.

Love One Another...Even in Our Differences.

1 John 4:7-10 (New Living Translation) 

Loving One Another

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
 
Photo courtesy of flickr.com and remember the United Colors of Benetton commercials from the 1980's?  That's is what I kept picturing when I was writing this post.  I couldn't find any old shots of those but the one above is a good substitute.

12 comments:

  1. Jackie, Love is exactly what makes a family, no one knows that more than I. Thanks for such a beautiful post!

    Happy Weekend!

    ~Andrea~

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  2. I was always told you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family.

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  3. yeah for differences! i love my family dearly but i don't want to be around families that are just like mine all the time otherwise i would just stay home!

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  4. What a great post, and so very very true. We are to love everyone as we love ourselves. Jesus loves us in spite of our faults and failures. How can we treat others with any less love? Have a very blessed day!

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  5. A great post, Jackie! I love your thankfulness for the beauty of a diverse community.

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  6. Great post! And I completely agree with you! I was at dinner with a couple one night. A group of developmental disabled adults were eating at the establishment as well. The husband made some horribly, off color remarks I did not care for. He thought he was being funny. And repeated it again thinking I did not hear him. What if it were his son/daughter and someone was making those ugly remarks about? It upset me very much! I don't care to be around people like that. Or people who pass judgment on others for not having enough money or wrong skin color. It's what on the inside that counts!

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  7. I'm sitting with you. We have lots of different lifestyles and even races in our family tree. I love watching my very blonde, blue-eyed son run around like a crazy kid with his dark skined, dark eyed African American cousin. THEY don't notice anything different- they just love being together. Too bad all adults aren't like that.

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  8. Very well said. Our differences make us who we are. How can people make judgments about what is "too" different?

    I love the colors and photos in your blog header. It just makes me happy:)

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  9. Jackie, AMEN!! My favorite: 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
    Have a blessed day!
    Elle

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  10. AMEN! That is what LOVE IS...Jesus demonstrated this Love and we are to Love like He does.

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  11. A very beautiful post. You are absolutely right.

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  12. Very nice. I often wonder why we are so "nice" to friends or even strangers but yet can hardly say nice words to the ones who love us. Enjoy!

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