Guess who’s back?? Yes, my friends, I have to-date survived over a week’s worth of family vacation, spanning several states and lots of late nights. Mom and Rachel are here in Kentucky, after Rachel’s lovely graduation in Washington. My family is wonderful, and I’m truly blessed to have them here. But I did think I was going to kill them when they insisted yesterday that I take them to Pizza Hut for dinner—not just any of the fine pizza establishments that grace this city, but Pizza Hut. And we couldn’t order delivery, either. Only dine-in would pacify their demands. Ah, family. Follow this up with a trip to Romania next week, and I think I’ll need a vacation from all my vacations.

I’ve lived on my own here in Louisville for nearly two years now. In that time, I’ve noticed that our adult habits display a creative tension between what we were raised with and our rebellion from that. An example: this morning, I led my mother through our kitchen to show her which foods in the pantry and fridge were mine. I said, “Most of the fresh fruits and veggies are mine, and a lot of the canned foods are mine. See all these potato chips and boxed foods, all the frozen foods? Those are my roommates’. We can’t eat them.” Our family ate a lot of frozen and boxed items when I was growing up. I still like a lot of those foods. But after moving away from home, I decided that I wanted to eat healthy, non-processed stuff. Hence my lack of foods my mom and sister enjoy.

On the other hand, their deeper influences still stay with me. I can’t seem to shake my people-pleaser tendencies, my hesitance to ask others for help, my desire to work hard and live with integrity. We may be able to change some of our habits, but we really are products of our families, our communities, and our societies.

We all go through that process of developing our own lives, lives that often don’t look like what we grew up with. Whether it is as simple as a change in eating habits or as challenging as embracing a different faith tradition, we all have to find our own paths. Yet the beauty of the college and post-college years lies in the freedom it allows for that transformation to take place. We can become a new creation, embracing the best in our own family traditions while challenging ourselves to change what hinders us from living out the Gospel.

I don’t know whether we’re doomed to repeat our parents’ mistakes. I do believe, though, that when we follow the Spirit’s call, God can use our flawed imperfections to achieve mighty acts. So continue on the journey of discovery, knowing that God is with you.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” --Matthew 6:34

Kelsey