Faith, Family, Friends… and Fairy Bread

I love homewares and I recently bought myself a gift of three wooden blocks with the words FAITH, FAMILY and FRIENDS printed on them. When I looked at them in the shop, they were stacked on top of each other in the order of Friends, Family, Faith. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but it grabbed my attention and I immediately thought… that’s not right!

When I got them home, I displayed them on my table in what I believe is the correct order. Faith, Family, Friends.

Why is this important to me?

#1 FAITH: Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Seek first the kingdom of God. First. Before everything else. My faith is the pillar on which everything else stands. Without faith I can’t do anything. Without faith I would never step out and take a chance. John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Without faith, I have nothing to put my hope in.

Faith is the bedrock of every decision you will ever make. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Whether you’re a believer or not you still exercise faith with every risk you take. You wouldn’t jump out of a plane without expecting your parachute to open. You wouldn’t marry someone without thinking it was going to last a lifetime. I’m sure you can think of other examples, but the point is this, faith is what underpins everything else in life. And for a follower of Jesus, it is the very foundation of everything we believe in.

#2 FAMILY: After our relationship with God, our second most important relationship is with our family. The family unit is pivotal to society, which is why it so often comes under attack. It breaks my heart to see estrangement in families. To see prodigals walk away. To see infidelity and divorce. I’m sure it breaks Gods heart too. After all He is the one who designed family. Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” The NLT version uses the words ‘just right’ instead of suitable. I love that. We were created just right for each other. The perfect fit. Unfortunately, though, we all know how that story ended, and sadly it’s no different today. People make mistakes and mess up. But Jesus came to restore that brokenness. We can’t do it on our own. Just as we trust Him with every other decision, we must also trust Him with our families. You won’t always see eye to eye with each other, but this side of Heaven they are all you’ve got. So, nurture, love and protect your family relationships.

Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Tragically there are times where you have no choice but to remove yourself from a bad relationship. The sin that distorted the very first family relationship way back in Genesis is still prevalent today. That’s why I love this verse from Romans. It is up to us to try to restore and maintain peaceful relationships. However, sometimes even though you’ve done everything you can, it is still unavoidable that you will have to forgive the person and walk away.

I love my family and I would do anything for them. But sometimes they frustrate me no end! I just need to remember they’re not perfect… and neither am I. As hard as it is to admit sometimes, I’m actually not always right! That’s where grace, compassion and forgiveness come in. They need it from me, and I definitely need it from them!

#3 FRIENDS: After family comes friends. Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. A good friend once gave me a fridge magnet that says, ‘Truly great friends are hard to find… difficult to leave… and impossible to forget.’ A great friend is indeed a rare find. Great friends are the ones who have your back, no matter what. Great friends are the ones who will tell you the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. Great friends will also ask you to tell them the truth, even if they don’t want to hear it. Great friends will never betray your trust. Although even the greatest of friend will inevitably disappoint you or let you down. It’s human nature, we’re all flawed!

As an introvert, I don’t have a lot of great friends. I have many acquaintances and some good friends, but the category of great friend is reserved for a very few. And I’m okay with that. I don’t need a lot of people around. In fact, I need to withdraw and recharge after being with too many people, I get ‘peopled out’ very quickly. I still love my friends I just don’t need to be with them all the time. I can hear my extrovert friends horrified gasps!

Sometimes friends can be family. Sometimes family can be friends. You would be truly blessed to have the pleasure of both.

Faith, Family and Friends. Three of the most important things we need to enjoy this thing we call life. I believe if we prioritise them in their correct order, putting God first and everything else in its proper place, then the journey will be a lot more pleasant and much easier to navigate.

And the fairy bread? That is just a little reminder to not take yourself so seriously!

I had a birthday recently and celebrated with a family dinner of party pies, sausage rolls and cocktail franks. All the good stuff. I also made a plate of fairy bread and posted some photos on Facebook. Do you know the one thing that got the most comments? My plate of fairy bread. It obviously brought memories and happiness to a lot of people. Fairy bread is fun, it’s simple and it brings joy. What’s not to love?

Life is hard, sometimes it can hurt, and we forget to have fun and enjoy the journey. Maybe we all just need a plate of fairy bread once in a while to put everything back into perspective.