Help Mend a Family

Time is precious. It's the one thing we can never get back and the most valuable thing we have to give. Cherish the time you have and don't delay in telling those closest to you that you love them. Tell them now, and with frequency. https://gofund.me/fef58f48

Our family has been splintered since the death of my grandpa in 2013. Our grandpa, "Big G" as he preferred to be called saying he was "too young" to be grandpa, was the father we all never had since all my aunts and my mother were single-parent mothers. His home was the family hangout, the launching point and the soft landing. His kindness and generosity were infectious. His passing threw us all into disarray individually and communally, the glue was gone. The splintering has caused me, my brother (the oldest grandkids) and my kids to stay away here in New Jersey. Many have not recovered and slipped away into physical, emotional, and financial despair. Now his wife, my grandmother, Maria Carmen Avina-Almanza, has passed and along with her our last image of childhood.

I was numb, not knowing how to feel until this morning. Matthew 5:23-24 was in my phone this morning and I was moved: "...if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there... First go and be reconciled to them..." Now, I am confidently called to go back to my family to mourn with them, to reconcile with them, to help heal them and to heal us as a family.

When I mentioned this to my kids today, my son said, "So we're going to California for another funeral." I said "No, we're going to heal the family." My daughter said "We don't have the money." I said "No we don't, but that doesn't mean it won't happen." I was blessed with this call to action to take my kids and my brother to mend the family.

***Since I first wrote this I realized I have also never healed from my grandfather's passing. Distance gave me a false sense of ok-ness. I thought I was being led to heal my family and now know I'm being led to also be healed myself...

We need funds for airfare and lodging of four people for a week. The funeral is the first week of October. Along with my own prayers, I lay this here that it reaches those with a heart to give and will let God work.

Here is how you can help mend a family!
1) Pray for my family, my kids, my brother and my extended family in California who sorely need to become a family again.
2) Please forward this to your friends, family, social media, book club, co-workers, etc. to bless our story so that this blessing becomes part of your story too.
3) Donate and take part in this healing. If you've read this far, please give what God is putting on your heart to give. Giving will bless you with others giving to you.

I pray that you are moved to reconcile with anyone in your life as I have been moved. I pray blessings over you.
Leon