“My brothers shun me like a bum off the street; My family treats me like an unwanted guest.” Psalm 69:8 (MSG)

After grade 6 in elementary school, I entered grade 6 in high school. It’s a bit confusing to some cultures. In Belgium, however, students go to elementary school from grades 1 to 6, and then they begin high school in grade 6, and continue onward backwards until they graduate from grade 1.

I was quite excited to be able to mingle with high school kids. It’s there that I met my cousin Eric, who was in his final year. Even though most Grade 1s never associated with newbies (Grade 6s), my cousin Eric was an exception.

I never really knew my cousin before this, except for marriages and funerals. For some reason, my dad never visited Eric’s dad, who was my dad’s brother. Now I enjoyed getting to know another family member who cared for me. This was a wonderful year and we became friends for life.

A couple of years later, I had Eric’s dad as my biology teacher. What a great teacher he was! He made biology fun and all kids liked him as a teacher. I was proud of my uncle.

Thanks to this experience, I kept in touch with my uncle. The last letter I received from him, he shared with me what the information he had found about my family’s genealogy. It went way back to the French Revolution, but then he couldn’t find any other ancestors because most of the archives had been burned in 1789. I was ecstatic. A couple of years later my uncle died.

Just by going to high school, I ended up getting to know some caring family members.

It’s sad in our world when families become estranged, as was the case with our family. It’s not worth it! Even if some of them are less than gracious, they are still family. At times we may not be able to accept their philosophy of life, but we should still love them. Even the prodigals need love. We can be a blessing to them. After all, we are family. None of them should be left as strangers.

“For the sake of my family and friends, I say it again: live in peace!” Psalm 122:8 (MSG)

“Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” Proverbs 18:24 (MSG)

Why not start a revolution? Let us reach out to family members who we have neglected and show them what real love looks like. It’s true that some may reject us, but at least we have left a wide open door for them to come into our lives at any time. After all, we are family!

Rob Chaffart


(To access the entire “Dragon Tramps or Kingdom Heirs” devotional series, please click here.)