Broken, I run to You.

Brokenness. Everything in this world is broken, and you don't know what wholeness is until you've seen something incomplete. This Thanksgiving season, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for my family and its state of oneness; its alive, harmonious pulse. I love my family more than anything on this earth, and my heart breaks for families who loathe one another.
A consequence of this broken world: Families are too often found in pieces.
This realization started around a month ago with the news that my friend's parents were divorcing. I knew her and her mom well. Her mom endured many years of her husband's coldness with a cheerful, servant heart. For all it was worth, he still decided to end the marriage.
My brother's best friend, who is like a brother to me, endures the numb anger of his father. His mother passed away when he was younger, leaving his dad with two beautiful, wonderful, ginger-headed boys, and a spiteful heart. I've heard enough horror stories to know. Life is miserable in that big, fancy house - from the outside it is picture perfect, but the relationships enclosed inside are rotting away.
The father of my twin friends scared them so badly with his raging anger that he has moved in with his mother, away from the rest of the family. They are going through with a divorce.
Over break, my friend's father passed away very suddenly, leaving behind 10 kids and a wife with a part-time job. The relationship between wife and husband, husband and kids, was not pretty in the least.
Broken, scarred homes, plagued by fighting and hatred. Sometimes this world disgusts me.
Then I dwell on my family. My parents love each other more with every day that passes. My little brother is one of my best friends. Both of us can tell our parents anything under the sun, and they are equipped with calm advice and overflowing love. Our family is never short on laughs; we laugh literally all the time. When we do fight, we still know how much we love each other. I cannot ever thank God enough for giving me the family He did. However, broken families are always within reach, and they always will be.
Just my thoughts for the week.