“Miss Lori, can we borrow you for a minute?” and so I followed my Trio of girls past the bride & groom, through the wedding crowd, to a secluded room in the back of the church.  These sweet girls whom I’ve been mentoring for nearly 15 years, since they were in 7th grade;  now here they were, all grown up, all married a few years, and though two lived in different cities, we remained close in covenant – these spiritual daughters of mine.

As soon as she closed the door, I knew.  It was happening.  And my knees buckled just a little with excitement… and the squealing began before she could even get it out!!!  “AHHHHH!!!  Are you?  You are, aren’t you?!!   I can’t believe it!!   When are you due??  (enter tears, more squealing, overflowing joy)  “Wait!!  What?   Me, TOO,” said another one!  (And yes, we discovered that night that these two were due four days apart!!)   Wasn’t it just yesterday they were telling me which boy they liked at school, telling me who was mad at whom, and making lists of what they hoped their future husbands would be like?  Wasn’t it just yesterday when they asked, “Do you think he’s the one?”, then asked us to do their premarital counseling … now here they were, one already a mom and two with brand new babies on the way.

Today as I type this, there are two new babies in the world, one born yesterday afternoon, one born this morning at 5:30 a.m.  Two of three best friends since 7th grade, now laboring within 24 hours of each other. Co-laboring with God to bring new life, new seasons.    New families.

And I lift up my thanks and lift up my prayers, “Oh, Father, bless them and strengthen them.  Help them not only today, but in this world we live, to raise these children in joy and wisdom; and love them well… ”   

You may not have children. You may not be married. But if you’re in the Family of God, you can be a mother or father or a daughter or son. You are in the Family, and each of us has a role to fulfill.

The Trio and I started in a little office in a little church when three little seventh graders were upset about something someone had said, and one was crying pretty hard. (= a daily occurrence when you’re in seventh grade.) I was known as ‘Miss Lori’ back then, their worship leader for a family ministry we did together called KidStuf, so I asked if I could just pray for them? And we opened the bible, and read what God said, and one of them exclaimed, “This is amazing! It’s almost like God is speaking to us right now!’ And He was. And I smiled. And I listened and we prayed. And they said, ‘Can we do this again next week?’ And we did. And we continued. Week after week. Year after year. And that was 15 years ago. And we haven’t stopped.

And I learned that young teens need a place to just be and talk and share and have someone care enough to just listen. (Or maybe that’s all of us at any age…) I learned that even in the best of families, our kids will need other voices to speak into their lives as they grow, when they’ve heard it all from mom and dad, but might need another Mentor who could come alongside. Our boys did.

Enter the Family of God. Where all our families come together to become one bigger Family where God is Poppa of us all.

And if you have been born again, you have not been born into isolation. You were ‘born’ into a family: the Family of God. You now have brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers all around you. You are not alone. You belong. And you have a place. You have others you can turn to. You have others who need you. You may look around and see someone younger than you who just needs someone to sit with them, listen to them, and help them hear what God is saying.

Going to church is great, worshiping together is a joy! Studying the bible feeds our souls, and going to classes increases our understanding. But when Jesus showed us how to ‘make disciples’, he made HIS disciples with three words: “Come with Me.” Jesus showed us that the Life He came to give us is found in RELATIONSHIP, not religion. More is actually caught than taught. He taught us that God is Father and His greatest desire is to be WITH us. Jesus modeled that disciples are made as we invite others into our lives, into our hearts, as family.

I had no idea that children not born to me could become so dear to me. I found that the more we shared God’s love together, the more we felt God’s love FOR each other. We decided to commit to each other to be there for each other, through the good, the bad, and the ugly. For this is what Family does: it stays the course. It sees it through. It doesn’t throw in the towel when things get hard or you make me mad or you move to another state. Family knows your weaknesses and loves you the same and covers over a multitude of sins. Family celebrates your joys, and cries with you in your sorrows, and goes & gets the kleenex before the conversation even begins. Family recognizes your hard seasons, believes the best when you don’t, and reminds you who you are when you have forgotten. Family relationships are Covenant relationships: it doesn’t depend on the faithfulness of the other, but on yours to them when they need it the most.

This is the way our Father has loved us. And His greatest desire and commandment is for us to love each other the same. In today’s world, many have not experienced the kind of family that we had hoped we would. Many have never felt the Covenant Love that never leaves you nor gives up on you and is there for you no matter what. But today is a new day. Today, may you be reminded that you are not alone. There is a Father who does love you this way. His Covenant to you never changes: He’s in it for the long haul! And He has a family He’d love for you to come home to: where you will find that you are loved and you belong and you matter more than you could know.

And if you have HAD this kind of family? If you have had someone pour into you in your life? Give thanks. In the Bible, Paul poured into Timothy, his spiritual son. Moses mentored Joshua and took him wherever he went. Elijah took along Elisha, and passed on his mantel when it was time to go home.

Who are you pouring into? Who around you needs an older brother, sister, mother , father, or mentor to come alongside? You may even still be looking for someone to be this for you, but you don’t have to wait… begin pouring. Begin inviting, ‘Hey, wanna come?’ Begin listening, and caring, and sharing what you know of the Father and His love.

Today, two new lives have been born into the Family. It’s crazy how my heart loves them already. I am praying today – already- that they will know Father, they will have godly friends, and that when they need it the most, someone in the Family will ask them, “Hey, wanna come?”

“These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure;” Titus 2: 4-5