the family we choose

"maybe it's not blood bonds that make us a family. perhaps it's the people who know our secrets and love us anyway, so we can finally be ourselves." -- gossip girl


i'm going to be honest. when my parents moved out east for the school year and left my brother and me with no family, i felt alone.

then my brother got a full time job in addition to his full time school. though we may live a mere two yards away from one another, i see him about once a week -- sometimes less (like this last week). when there is so much physical distance between family, it can accentuate any other kind of distance - emotional distance.

i love my family. don't misunderstand me.






what i am saying is that i am finding, being here secluded and left with no physical family (that i actually see, talk to, or spend time with) to speak of, i am creating my own "family."


the family of my own creation is one made up of roommates, friends, and mother- and father-figures who can substitute for the real thing. all these people who come to know me, know what makes me who i am, and know my secrets ..... loving me anyway. sometimes loving me because of them.


i just watched "country strong" two and a half times in a twenty-four hour period this last weekend.

{yes, i loved it}

...there's a song called "coming home"

it's my absolute favorite.... it speaks to my heart.

home is not a physical place. it is where we feel safe, comforted, loved, and know that we won't be judged. it is where we join with the family we choose for ourselves - home is created there.

and within that home, having a small taste of the true home our Heavenly Father has waiting for us, we find the motivation, hope, and even the courage to keep going on the road that will bring us back home.