Limited Wall Space, or a Timely Reminder?

by Michele Husfelt on July 27

I just replaced Jesus with my family.

After traveling quite a bit and running full speed ahead while home, I finally got around to ordering canvas prints from our family reunion back in February, even though they're already outdated thanks to the arrival of our seventh grandchild, Pepper Mia! The photos were a treasured birthday gift from my family.

What started as a joke in our family group text became reality last fall when one of our daughters posted that she'd dreamed we all went on vacation together and Mom and Dad paid for the food. (!)

After several comical remarks, our son chimed in, "Let's all go to Disney World!" And before we could say bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, a family reunion at Disney World on my birthday in February was on the calendar.

The special bonus was that our children and grandchildren living in Africa unexpectedly happened to be home and were able to join us for a few days. Buttercream icing on the cake, for sure.

When my grandchildren asked what I wanted for my birthday, I told them I wanted us all together, and I wanted them to behave and smile long enough for some great photos. (Their parents call them feral for a reason.) They obliged and performed fabulously. Their little personalities shone through in every shot. I was elated and grateful.

Now, if you've been to my house, you know my walls are fairly full. I wanted to display the new family collage somewhere prominent so everyone would see it the moment they walked in. Without thinking much about it, I took down a print of Jesus and hung my family in its place.

A day or two later, it dawned on me what I'd done. Though I'd only swapped pictures, it brought back a lesson from several years ago and made me wonder whether there have been times I've truly put my family in the place of Jesus.

Our first daughter to get married was probably the most surprising. She wasn't interested in boys, had never dated, and was determined to move to Africa to save the world. Within a month of returning to school in Chicago after spring break, during which she'd brought home a girlfriend and mentioned no boy at all, she called to announce she'd met a young man from class who sounded like her clone, and she thought she might marry him.

Sure enough, four months later, they were married. (Nine years and four children later, they live in Africa and are, in fact, saving the world.)

Because of the short notice, our youngest daughter, who was studying abroad in Greece, couldn't make it home. I was crushed. How could she get married without her sister? I couldn't imagine a wedding without every family member there. My kids love each other dearly, and surely it wouldn't work without all of them.

Even though the two sisters had talked it through and decided it was fine for one to be absent, I couldn't fathom it. We needed the missing piece to be complete.

I cried. I begged. I protested. I whined.

All to no avail.

That's when my wise mentor gently suggested I consider whether my family had become an idol.

My whaat?

How could that be? God had given me this precious family, and we'd worked hard to keep it closely connected through many military deployments and, by then, four of our five children leaving home for college and beyond.

They weren't my idol, I reasoned.

They were my most precious gift.

Fast forward many years, and I'm still faced with reminders not to value the Gift(s) over the Giver.

There are other things I'm tempted to elevate as well: my job, my home, my marriage, and my friendships. But none of them should take the place of Jesus.

I'm still deciding whether to put Jesus back on the wall and move my family somewhere else. But regardless of where the pictures hang, I'm grateful for the reminder that only One deserves first place.

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). My family is one of God's greatest gifts to me, but they were never meant to take His place. I pray that whether people notice the pictures on my wall or not, they'll see by the way I live that Jesus still holds the place of highest honor in my heart.