Each of us enter into the world through families. Some may be good families, while others struggle, and some are harmful and hurtful to us. Some of us have 2 parents, others have just 1, while some are left with none. As we grow, our experience of family is incredibly diverse, with all kinds of different experiences and opportunities to learn. The family of God is perhaps even more diverse. And yet, we learn throughout Scripture that the family of God is united, bound together in Christ. Even when we experience grief, loss, wrongdoing, and dissonance from our spiritual family, we are bound together by Jesus. Today, we seek to ground ourselves and to firmly plant our lives of faith in Jesus, knowing that the family of God is present with us. We have the joy and privilege of learning how to be family with each person in our midst, even if they are radically different from us. We have the task of being formed together into the likeness of Jesus.