My Family Culture

I cannot even imagine the devastation of a major catastrophe affecting the infrastructure of my country although I know others in other countries and even others in parts of states of our countries have experienced such a thing.  I would hope that even if we were getting relocated to another place that I would be able to travel with my husband, children, mother, and sister.  My family is important to me and I could not imagine my life without them.

If I was given the opportunity to take three items along with my family, I would choose the following three items:

1.  My Greek Orthodox Bible would be the first item I would take.  My Bible would help me to stay connected to my faith knowing that when I need some encouragement and strength, I could look to my Bible for readings and read daily not knowing if I would encounter an Orthodox church in my new place of relocation.

2.  My Saint Nicholas Icon which represents my Patron Saint.  Saint Nicholas, through his life and death, has performed acts of kindness to all people that he met.  He was especially giving to the poor, young children and prisoners.  As a young child Saint Nicholas was faithful to the church and always helping people in need.  I feel a great connection to Saint Nicholas as a teacher of young children in areas that are the most needy.  Saint Nicholas is known to be the Protector of sailors, Protector of crops, and Patron Saint of all children.  You can read more about Saint Nicholas at http://www.goarch.org/special/nicholas/index_html .

3.  One of our family picture albums because I love looking at pictures of our family and recalling good times and the stories those pictures tell.  I would especially value these pictures if I was unable to see my family or if they were taken away from me suddenly.

 

                                   

 

 

                              



I would be very sad and angry if I was told that I was only allowed to keep one personal item.  However, I would give away the Bible and the Icon in hopes that someone else would find inspiration from them as I have.  I know by giving those items away, I would still have my strong faith in God and that some day those items might come back to me in a different form.

My mother and father, although they divorced early in my life, have always taught me independence, strength and love.  I know that I have passed these qualities on to my children and although we would be in a different country with not a whole lot to take with us, we would find strength in our faith in God and our love for each other to not only survive but also help others around us.  I think that initially we would feel sad and angry about what was happening but I do believe that we would survive in a different culture learning about the culture we are being immersed into because people are people everywhere regardless of their culture.  People everywhere need food, shelter, clothing, love, and understanding.  I would hope that our family would become stronger and find ways to live out our faith with other people.

References
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. (2013).  Feast of our Father among the Saints, Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra.  Retrieved from http://www.goarch.org/special/nicholas/index_html