Different

Let me start this blog with a disclaimer (I do that a lot): I love my family. I have one of the best families, both immediate and extended, in the world. If I could choose a family to be a part of, I would choose the one I've got.

However ... in the sovereignty of God, I somehow ended up in a family that I am completely different from in so many ways. It started in high school when I decided Ding-dongs and Ho-hos were bad for you. Then I majored in French and Linguistics in college (who does that?!). Everyone else in the family majored in things like business, nursing, pharmacy, history education ... I majored in French. Then I became an environmentalist -- a tree-hugging, granola eating Mom who buys organic milk and organic baby food and cage-free eggs and watches movies like Food Inc. and recycles everything. I also camp ... in a tent. My family's idea of "roughing it" is staying at the Super 8. And I like to hike, a lot. The longer and harder the hike, the better. My family is afraid they'll be eaten by bears on Whidbey Island. No seriously, they are.

Then there's the whole I am the ONLY one in my entire family (extended family included) who does not live in Missouri or Kansas. The whole family lives within 3 hours of everyone else. I live a 3-day drive away on the coast. In an apartment. Every other married family member owns a house with a 2-car garage. If we stay in the Navy, it will be 20+ years before I ever own a house. I will be living with white walls for the rest of my life, while everyone else paints their kitchen green. And speaking of the Navy, I am also the only one in the entire family who is part of a military family. The only one who shows up alone on Christmas and talks in acronyms.

Oh yeah, and we're the only ones (except for my uncle -- thank you Uncle Ray and Aunt Paige!) who have adopted. And did we mention our son is African American? You see, I sometimes worry that Malachi will feel awkward ... different. Will he feel like he sticks out? Will everyone accept him? And then I think about it -- I'm so different from my family, but with all my quirks, they still love and accept me. Which is pretty cool. They may roll their eyes at one of my "save the earth" comments, but they love me and accept me the way that I am. And I know they're going to do the same with Malachi. He may feel a little different sometimes, but different isn't bad. Especially when you've got a family like mine. Even the Bible talks about how we as Christians are supposed to be different from the world. Different is good.

That's what I want to instill in Malachi -- confidence and the belief that a community (and a family) is made up of all kinds of different people who love and accept each other as they are. Along with the importance of saving the whales, not using wrapping paper because it kills trees, and eating grass-fed meat.