I have family

as I was sitting in my room, it hit me that I have family in Taiwan.

Especially thinking about all my cousins on my mom's side, four of them girls, and two of them my age.

I have another world in Taiwan. And I missed it--I missed growing up with them, though I saw them every few years. I realized this when I saw two of my cousins from different families/parents interacting. They were so close. and I realized I had missed it. I was their cousin too, but they had grown up together, in the same culture and country.

But I guess now thinking about it, I have family all over the world. in different cultures and countries. The only problem is I don't think of them as family. Once in a while, I remember that they are called family, because we are in Christ. But if I really believed that I had family all over the world, I'd live differently and think differently. I'd pray for them and give them money. I'd love them.

"But the trouble with deep belief is that it costs something. And there is something inside me, some selfish beast of a subtle thing that doesn't like the truth at all because it carries responsibility, and if I actually believe these things I have to do something about them. It is so, so cumbersome to believe anything." -Donald Miller, in Blue like Jazz

It's a different world out there. Actually, there are so many different worlds. But sometimes it's easier not to notice.