My heart skipped a beat...

My heart skipped a beat, or two, today when my doorbell rang. This never happens during the day, and I was afraid of who was behind it. Here's the scoop...

There is a rumor floating around that my mom and dad are in town. I thought it was them. Turns out, it was just some canvassers from KnoLogy trying to sign people up for TV and internet services. Now, some of you may be asking why I would mind if it was my mom and dad. Well, as it turns out, they have disowned me...again. There is a really long story behind this. One way to long for a blog post. But the details of the story don't really matter anyway. All that ultimately matters is that our relationship is broken, and so with it, my heart is broken.

My parents are far from the worst in the world, but they do have more issues than the best parents in the world. They raised me with plenty of food, clothing and shelter. But they missed a lot when it came to love and grace. This pattern carried into adulthood, and now we are estranged. The thing that gets me most about this is that I don't understand it. I am far from perfect, we all are. But they bring hatred, hostility, and turmoil to pretty much any relationship in their lives...and I don't know why, nor do I know how to fix it.

Although we have had periods of separation before in life, this one has become more permanent, and I don't see any possibility of reconciliation on the horizon. It's like I am mourning a loss similar to what I imagine losing parents in a car crash would be. Sudden. Tragic. Unexplainable. Heartbreaking.

Why is it that this theme of broken families is so common in our world though? Mine is far from singular. I have hear similar stories from almost all of my friends. The relational ties of earthly, blood-related families suffer the worst kind of destruction than most other relationships I can think of. I don't have any profound thoughts on the matter though. I just wanted to put it out there that I am heartbroken, and I know I am not alone. The family unit is the most basic building block of society. Yet, especially in America, it is also the unit that is all too easily broken, battered and put aside. How sad. :(

What I wouldn't give to fix those things that are essentially irreplaceable... And what I won't do to protect the relationships between me and my children and my spouse...