These are the five people who are my life.

In our house, we laugh, cry, yell, complain, hug, nag, and tease each other.

We play together. And sometimes we give each other space so we can play alone.

We eat together…sometimes. And we have “every man for himself” dinner all too often.

We have a group chat called “Mi Familia”.

We annoy each other. We poke each other. And we are fiercely loyal to each other.

This is my family. We aren’t perfect. But we are trying. And in the tender moments of seeing my oldest hold and hug his baby brother during the Christmas Eve service at church, and the “middles” sitting together, quietly, working on an art project, give me the little glimpses of hope that I need to know that we are (mostly) doing it right, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

God gives us family so we can have a safe space to be ourselves. And, wow, can I just say, “Thank you God” for these five.

Disclaimer: My viewpoints are not necessarily reflective of my employer, or any local, regional or national organization that I belong to. As a matter of fact, I pretty much just speak for myself. Please keep that in mind.