The Family Portrait

This family portrait (sans Navy Son because he was already in the Navy when it was taken) hangs on a wall in my house. Something about the frame makes it always hang crooked, a bad thing for a slightly OCD person like myself. For a while every time I walked by it, I would straighten it. The next time I walked by it would be crooked again. It was driving me nuts!

But then I saw it.

This family is a little crooked.

From looking at this portrait, one could think we are the perfect family. We all look so happy, smiling in our coordinating outfits. From the outside, we may look like that perfect family. Beautiful, smart, well-behaved children, everything in place, life ticking along swimmingly with no cares in the world. But just like there is no perfect picture, there is no perfect life. Things get cock-eyed. All. The. Time. And this family? Well, we've got our issues, just like everyone else in the world. Things happen. Sometimes there's not enough money. Sometimes people get sick. Sometimes there are family conflicts. Sometimes our lives get....well....crooked.

Thankfully we have a God who loves us and cares for us to come along and straighten the picture again. To put us back on an even keel. Sure, we'll get "off" again. Life happens. But God knows the struggles we face, and when we put our faith in Him, we can keep those radiant smiles in our hearts all the time. Even when we're a little crooked.

“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight…….” Isaiah 45:2