A while ago a good friend from the Chicago suburbs drove the 110 miles between us to spend the day with me. Maria and I used to pray together weekly before our family moved to Michigan, and we know each other well. After all those years of praying over family members, we know each others families pretty well, too.

When Maria came, she brought a unique gift: a wall hanging representing the importance of family. Somehow she researched all the birth dates of my children and grandchildren, and then hand-made a beautiful work of art that included every name and the day they were born.

I hung this masterpiece near our dining table where it has frequently been scrutinized and also has stimulated many a conversation. And just two weeks ago I had the joy of hooking a brand new circle onto the January line with baby Isaac’s name and date on it.

Only God knows which row(s) will be lengthened by how many additional circles in our family’s future. Maybe he’ll decide to hang circles from our “blank” birthday months (March, November, December). But it’s possible Maria’s display is complete just the way it is. None of us can predict.

When I look at this work of art, I’m impacted by the importance of those circles. Except for Jack the dog (who’s there too), each paper disk represents a human soul that will live throughout eternity. And each one of them has to decide what they want to live for and what, if anything, is worth dying for. Each name has to settle on whether or not they believe in God and then determine which of the many gods available for worship these days is the real One.

But just like those small circles are separated from one another, each individual is seen and known separately by God. He has special plans for every name on the wall and a desire to shower each one with blessings. He has also prepared a few difficult challenges for each name.

God chose that particular group of people to be in the Nyman family, and he wants all of us to relate to one another lovingly. Though we don’t always do that, he wants us to work at getting along, looking out for each other, and sharing what we have with whomever is in need. God wants the Nyman family (and every other earthly family) to be models of his spiritual family in these same ways. Earthly families are to be a mini-version of the Great Family of God, relating to one another with sacrificial attitudes and tough, unshakeable love.

Of course no family can act that way all the time, but we can do it some of the time, and when we do, our relationships will strengthen and our joys abound. That goes for earthly families like the one on my wall, and for God’s much bigger family, too.

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.” (Ephesians 3:14-15)