As a mom, one of the greatest heart throb acts, that my kids can do for me is to show up for one another. I didn’t even know to intentionally teach them this, or it would have been at the top of the list. By the grace of God our kids do practice showing up for one another. It’s hard and doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it sends a rush right through my soul. Our older kids have families of their own, so it gets a little trickier and a lot more fun when it does happen, because now they bring the next generation. Showing up takes effort and sacrifice. Showing up pays back and pays forward. The time and effort of showing up, is an investment in relationship that will last forever.
brothers and sisters are a big deal to Jesus
When Jesus showed up on earth he talked about brothers and sisters. He talked about who are his brothers and sisters. Jesus was explaining who his family is, and he said, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”(Matthew 12:50) This is a sneak peak or a big picture into the heart of the Father, who is the creator of family, and the author of how to show up and love one another. There is something about sharing the same Father, and His household values, that bond us beyond this life and this world, and our definition of sister and brother.
Following Jesus and showing up like His example, is what makes us true and forever family. When you are from the same household, here on earth, and in heaven, it overlaps earth and heaven, for a slice of heaven right here on earth. Heaven on earth is what it feels like to me when I see our kids showing up for one another, so I can’t imagine how God must feel.
Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. (Romans 12:10-11)
sisters
Me and my sisters have modeled showing up for one another, well. There have been seasons when we were off, not off track completely, but off the radar of showing up. We got spread out and lived really far apart. We still do live many miles apart, but we have grown closer. As we have grown up and matured in our relationship with Jesus, it has grown and tightened our relationships with one another. We have learned how to show up better.
Jesus talked about leaving brothers and sisters for the sake of the gospel, and for His sake, and how He has provision for that, here and now, and forever. I wonder though, if you don’t have to leave brothers and sisters to follow Jesus, it doesn’t take that provision away, it just adds to it.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time —houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions —and eternal life in the age to come. (Mark 10:29-30)
Having Jesus loving brothers and sisters to grow up with (related and not related on earth); then to do adult life with, for the sake of the gospel, is a grand slam!!! Grand slam here on earth as it is in heaven.
build
Showing up with and for the people God has put in your life, doesn’t take away from building a family, it builds it better and makes it stronger. When Jesus is the foundation, all you can do is build. Jesus adds and multiplies to relationships built on Him, whether you are from the same household here on earth or not.
Me and the sisters never sat down and made a decision to show up for each other, so our kids would; we just did it and our kids love when we do. Now that we have so many kids between us, the kids look forward to showing up, just as much as we do.
Luke 6:47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”
showing up adds up
I have learned the more we show up for each other, the more we can show up with. Showing up, doesn’t take away, it adds and multiplies, not divides or subtracts. Its like adding kids to your family, it doesn’t subtract attention and love to anyone, it just adds to everyone. My friends become my sister’s friends and their friends become mine.
showing up has value
As we have gotten older, with more kids, and more responsibilities and spread out over the country, it’s actually easier to show up for each other. We have more reasons to gather and we know the value. It’s harder, by the world view, it’s costly, but in terms of God’s kingdom the payoff is huge. I would say the same for friends. It doesn’t get easier to show up, there is more life to navigate, more history to catch up on, but it’s always worth the time and investment.
find your people
I’m reading a book by Jennie Allen, called Find Your People. It talks about finding your people in your life right where you live. Be honest, vulnerable, and be there for one another often and authentic. I’ve thought about this, because I have close friends, and all my sisters, that live very far away, and I don’t want to trade one for the other. The point is; healthy relationships allow you to show up for others, wherever you are.
When my Grandma was in a memory care facility there was an old man that would walk the hallways, greeting everyone that passed by. He would say to me, on every lap he took, “Everywhere you go, there you are.” I think he may have been onto something deeper, not just funny.
May we show up everywhere we go!
