Ohana Means Family

Many of you know that in college I lived in a house with a unique group of girls. Though we didn't really know it when we named our house Ohana (Hawaiian for family, after a sermon we heard at a local church who was hosting Luau Sunday)- we were destined to become just that. These girls have become a part of me, and I them. Jesus in each of them has encouraged me to want to know more of Him, and challenged me to follow hard after Him. They are the most beautiful girls I know, and I am so blessed to call them my family.

I write about them because our family is changing. I'm not exactly sure when it started- perhaps when Mallory chose to follow the Lord's inviting her to be a part of a new family, the Trinity Fellows. I have watched this family mold and shape her in ways that Ohana could not, and though it first stirred jealousy and bitterness in me- it is with utmost joy that I see the woman God is transforming her to be.

Then, our dear Liz chose to accept an invitation from Jesus and her beloved Spencer. Yesterday, we celebrated their engagement in bittersweet fashion- with such hope for their new life together, and with remembrance of the season of life we shared together. This new family will shape Liz in ways Ohana, again, could not and I am so excited to watch it unfold.

Yesterday's celebration was also bittersweet because Ohana was not fully accounted for- we missed our sweet Molly. For the past month, Molly has been seeking the Lord in Kansas City, at the International House of Prayer. She was the first to fly from Ohana's Charlottesville nest, and so I greatly admire her courage and tenacity to follow God wherever He takes her (even if it is to a place whose winter temperatures settle right around zero).

And then there is Maddy and Veronica, who are awaiting the Lord's call to move; being faithful in the place He has them now. Veronica is finishing her degree, loving everyone she meets in the process, and continuing to make known the name of Jesus at UVa. She does this in a way that most cannot- she is so full of life and joy, it is impossible not to see God in the beautiful woman she is. Maddy is working a myriad of jobs, and worshipping God in the midst of and above it all. I have never known a woman to love Jesus the way she does- every minute, with every ounce of her energy, encouraging others to do the same.

When I actually think about it (which I admit, I often do not and instead take it all for granted), I cannot believe God would bless me with such incredible sisters. I also cannot believe that He would take them away from me, or that He would take me away from them. Oh how my heart breaks to know that we won't always be under one roof, or even on the same continent. My heart does break, but it also hopes in the way it will be restored, as He promises it will. I hope in Him who has the power to give and take away, to ruin and renew, and whatever plan He has for Ohana. He may indeed be changing our family- but I trust that the transformation will be unto His glory, forever and ever, Amen.