Thank God for my family,

Last night's care group session, we touched on thanksgiving.

And one thing that I really give thanks for this year is F A M I L Y.

My parents and I haven't had the best relationship, and sometimes it's really easy to get pissed off at them for the slightest things. It may be because they talk too much, or nag too much, or disagree with me, or scolding me, or trying to tell me what to do. I couldn't hold a simple conversation without screaming and arguing with them.

But this year, I've come to realise how important family is.

During the mission trip to Chiangmai with my church, I had the opportunity to interact with kids who had no parents or were from terribly broken families. I asked quite a few of them what they were trusting God for. Their answers were all the same - family.

All they yearned for was to have a happy and whole family. Most of us have that here in Singapore, yet we always take it for granted.

Parents may not always be who you want them to be. They may not show you their love the way you'd want them to. But it's all about understanding the people we love and loving them for who they are (even though it may seem very difficult at times)

My parents aren't the kind of parents who hug me and kiss me and shower me with presents. We don't talk about our feelings to one another and we don't say 'I love you' or 'I miss you' to each other like other families do.

However, my family's interactions are the daily sharing of how our day was, what happened, if there were any funny events that occured. We thrive on intellectual conversations with each other as we talk about politics and world issues and occasionally, the idiocy of people around us. Their 'I love you's and 'I miss you's to my sister and I are expressed by their leniency and generousity towards us, and how they allow us to stay out all night simply because they trust us.

Every family has their own family dynamics and the love expressed by each and every parent towards their children definitely differ in some ways as compared to other parents. Yet, I think that everything boils down to trust. Trust that your parents have your best interests at heart when they scold you or reprimand you or restrict you from doing certain things. You're their flesh and blood, no parent would ever want to see their children hurt or upset, and everything that they're doing is simply protecting you because they don't want to see you shedding tears all the time. They want you to smile.

So today, start loving and appreciating your parents for the things that they do (as hard as it may seem), and never belittle the importance of family.

Afterall, FAMILY = Father And Mother, I Love You.