Family

Yesterday I placed a status on Facebook telling how much I appreciated my children.  This morning I read about the Walton’s 40th anniversary.  And, an accompanying article on how we need to see more families like them.

Instead, the American public laps up garbage such as the Kardashian family.  The Walton’s they are not.  Neither are the families who dress their toddlers as adults, complete with makeup and hairstyles.  None of the “reality” stars qualify as Walton-like, do they? Yet they make millions of dollars based on the millions of homes that seek … what? What are their watchers seeking?  Vicariously feeding on perceptions that hold no reality?  Why?

I don’t know.  I don’t watch them.  I don’t read entertainment news. My time is limited and though I checked some out years ago, I found it fit the definition of “gossip”.  There is no value there.  Even some of what is termed “news” appears to fall under that category, too.

Look at the Walton’s – three generations in one house. My, oh, my – how would that work today?  Quite well, thank you.  Our household held four generations when it was built back in 1998.  Yep, over sixty years after the Walton’s timeframe.  We built together, a garage separating my daughter’s house from ours, offering privacy for both. The idea came from a co-worker who built a similar home.  My Dad was living with us, so two generations on our side of the garage, and my daughter, her husband and two children on their side.

We have a larger family, too.  They are involved in our lives, and we in theirs.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16 KJV)

Both Peter and Paul refer to their brothers – meaning those who join them in believing Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. We, too, have brothers and sisters in this extended family.  However, for me the greatest blessing is that my children are also my brothers and sisters in Christ. 

The Walton’s focused on family, their strength and their weaknesses. Nothing I’ve seen on television, nothing in movies (unless you consider Fireproof or Courageous and the like) matches the Walton’s, or Little House on the Prairie – both based on the books about their authors' real families.  That’s where we should be looking, ignoring what passes for “reality” on television.

Tell your children stories from your own family’s history.  Talk with them about grand and great-grandparents.  Pass along the testimonies and witnesses from decades long gone, while building new ones for the future.  Remember men such as my husband’s adopted grandfather who left this for his children, written January 21, 1932.  Like the Walton’s, written in the midst of the Great Depression:


To my dear family survivors; the greatest asset I can hand down to you is to commend you to the Lord Jesus Christ whom I have tried to serve from childhood. He is the only rock or foundation you can safely build or rely upon and you should love Him with all your Might.