By Britton Johnston It's early. 6:30 a.m. to be exact. A winning touch down dream is abruptly ended by a voice at my door saying, "time to get up for school!" Not to mention the bright first light of Genesis that she so flipped on without hesitation. There wasn't much that go me angrier than my mom turning on that first light in the morning before school. In that moment, I was being formed. It's early evening. 5:30 p.m. I think it was. My Half-Windsor knot is tied like I like it. I walk up to a little white house. Her red dress is just like I had pictured it and a good part of my body is already sweating. There was nothing more that could've made that night any better, or me more excited. In that moment, I was being formed. It's late. 2:30 a.m. maybe, I can't remember. A whimper wakes me up and I gather my wits about me. Heading to the kitchen to make a bottle. I repent for my frustration of being woken up. There's not a person in the world I'd rather have helped back to sleep that night. In that moment, I was being formed. During my time at the 18 Inch Journey, this phrase was commonly used; "We are FOUND in God and FORMED in family." What that means is this: God finds us, saves us, then places us in an environment where He will slowly but surely form us into who He has called us to be. It took me the whole summer of 2014 to understand this, and i'm still trying to understand it, if I'm being honest. It's often the simplest things that take the longest time for our hearts to understand. "Family" can mean a bunch of different things for many people. For some it carries a negative connotation, and for others "family" means the Brady Bunch, and that's all they've ever known. For most of us though, our families are those people we do life with. Family encompasses our blood family, friends, Church, and anyone else we can squeeze into the category. There's a security and safety in family that the world doesn't offer. It's the game field where we live out the truths we've learned in Christ. I've learned most times the things I thought I knew, I hadn't really learned, because I couldn't live them out in a family context. It's not uncommon for the Lord to speak a word to my heart about patience, but it's not until I get home with family that the word is tested and proved true. Scripture says this about our family relationships: 1 John 4:20 -- If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother who he has seen cannot love God who he has not seen. Our love for God is lived out in our family, and if it's not then it probably wasn't love for God at all. Simply put: God uses family to form us into who He is calling us to be. If you can live out your faith in family then you've truly grasped it. What is God forming in you through your family? and What truths and principles is He calling of you to live out in your family context?
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