My Lebanese Family

Last Tuesday night I had dinner with one of my best friends in Australia and his family. It was a wonderful evening of great fellowship and amazing food. Driving home I thought about how thankful I was for the love and care that family had given me. They basically treat me as is I am one of their own children. What is surprising about that is the fact that they are Lebanese.

I currently work in a church that has a number of families who moved from Lebanon to Australia years ago. At first I was a little bit nervous about befriending these people because of the current political situation in Iraq. It was not afraid that they would hurt me but wondered if it was even possible to develop strong relationships with them.

In my mind the war in Iraq is necessary because the United States was being threatened. But I was worried about the situation there affecting my relationships with these people. It would be very easy for them to avoid me or treat me poorly because of what is happening in the middle east. Thankfully the exact opposite happened.

Instead of rejecting me these people accepted me as if I was one of their own! And along with acceptance they gave me a family structure that I can rely on here. Being around these believers allowed me to learn a lot about the Lebanese culture. What I found was that the most important thing in the world to them is family. Everything revolves around family for them. Shortly after Christmas I was having dinner with a Lebanese family and they talked about having twenty extended family members over for dinner. To them that was not a big deal at all. there were ten people at the house last Tuesday when I ate and it was done regularly.

Different people within this Lebanese church like my friends parents have become sort of an Australian family for me. They go out of their way to look after me and make sure that I am being cared for. This concern is coupled with the love and acceptance that they constantly show. My friends mother actually told me Tuesday night that she wished I was her son. I was flattered by the offer but was afraid I would stand out in the family pictures.

When I arrived in Australia I had a number of different needs. Slowly I met those needs one at a time. But for the first few months I could not meet my emotional needs. This was very frustrating for me since I am a relational person. I can remember becoming very depressed about my lack of friends in Australia last March. In my desperation I asked God to bring me friends. In his mercy God did much more than that, he gave me a family.

There are countless other people who God has used to meet my emotional needs. But my relationship with the Assad family is special because it shows the beauty of the body of Christ. God in his infinite wisdom attached a young man from the southern United States to a family that is from Lebanon. This was something that nobody could have ever planned or expected.

I do miss my physical family from time to time, but God has given me a group of people who can fill that void nicely.So as I drove home with enough food to last me more than a week I thanked God for my Lebanese family. For my Lebanese mother who gives me so much food every time I come visit. For my Lebanese father who always gives me a hug and makes sure that I am doing well. For my Lebanese brother who I can say absolutely anything too, and know I can trust him. And for a God who constantly reminds us that me that we are all one body in Christ.