We just celebrated two holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) that are spent with relatives. To start the new year most people spend the night with relatives. Our church has a candlelight service and at midnight the members are at the altar welcoming the new year in with prayer. So, I began thinking of a prompt that could incorporate relatives. And this is what the Lord help guide me to do...
Let's write entries to our relatives. Do you ever write to your children but it is in a journal for them to read after you have passed away? What did you tell that person? Did you share your thoughts, your feelings, your ideas? Did you give advice? Did you ask forgiveness from that person? Did you share your expectations of that person? Did you talk about how you love that person? If you have not written a journal of this type, why not start one today?
I thought of how we are related to people. I came up with the following ways:
By birth
We have fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses.
We have extended families.
We have in-laws.
We can be related by friendship.
We also can be related by church home, acquaintances, and coworkers.
Use these relationships as prompts for journaling.
We can also be related by love.
We love our family. We love our friends. We love many things. We love in many ways. For instance, I truly love my animals. I have made scrapbook pages of them. They are more important to me than they should be. Afterall, dogs and cats are people too. I have written many entries about my animals. Use the things or people you love to journal.
Do a study on the begats found in the Bible. Have you ever made a family tree? Draw one in your journal. Is your tree full? Is there missing limbs? Does it lean or is it not complete yet? Write about your family tree in your journal.
Do a study on relatives in the Bible. Adam and Eve. Abraham and Lot. Those are a couple of people we know about their life stories and they are related. Write letters to them and ask them things you are curious about or have questions about.
Do a verse study on words that relate to the prompt, such as mother, father, brother.
There are estranged relationships. Do you want to reconcile? Are you not willing to forgive? Write about the reason you are separated from these individuals. Ask the Lord for healing of your relationship. Ask Him to provide what is needed to mend the broken relationship. This could provide many entries in your journal.
Are you a Christian? Then you are related to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Do a study on the genealogy of Jesus. Are you surprised at some of the people that is listed in there? You are related to Him through the shedding of His blood. You have been adopted in His family. You have an inheritance in the Kingdom of our Lord. Write about your salvation experience. Journal how you are related to Jesus.You are also related to other Christians through the mutual love of Jesus Christ. Write about these things.
Now, let's talk about this spending time with relatives. Some people see their family every day. Some live too far away to spend time with them on a daily basis or even weekly or monthly. Some people do not ever see their family members due to an estrangement. Write about your time you get to spend with your family.
Are you spending as much time with them as you would prefer? Do you wish to spend more time than just at holiday get-togethers and funerals? Do you live with your family? Are you feeling like you spend too much time with your relatives? Write about these different questions.
Are you spending as much time with your Heavenly Father that you should? Do you spend time with Jesus? Write about your experiences with the Lord that shows how you are truly related. Are you one of those relatives that doesn't join in any family gatherings? Do you neglect your relationship with the Lord? Write of these things...
Do you still attend family reunions? Do you avoid your family reunions? Would you like to have a family reunion? Write your feelings on these different questions.
I used to spend more time with my best friend during my junior high and high school career. I hardly spent my time with my family. So I attended some of my friend's family reunions. I was with my friend so much that I guess some distant family members thought I was one of them. They would tell me "I haven't seen you in so long. My, have you grown." And they weren't even my family, but my best friend's family treated me as if I was one of them. I could write in my journal of the many times I felt more loved by them instead of my own family.
Are you a part of an online family? Write about them in your journal. Describe them so that others would be able to know them just by your description.
Is there someone in your family out there that you haven't seen in a long time and you miss them? Write a letter, send a card, or even Facebook that person and let that relative know your feelings. Make a copy of your letter or card and save it in your journal.
Another way people are related is their mutual hobby or club or organization. Write about the different ways you are related to others that are not blood relation.
I hope this prompt relates to you in such a way that it inspires you to write.
