Do I love "it" more than family?

I ended my last post with this question. It was rhetorical, yes...but it brings me to what our class was about this week.

This week we did another guided activity that was really powerful in the way it made me think and feel.

We started class by listing the things that form individual identity. Things that are a large part of ones life like culture, family, church, education, friends, community, etc... We discussed these for a little while- you know all hypothetically speaking.

Then it got personal.

We were given five sticky notes. We were told to write down five things that identify us- five of the biggest things that define who we are, five of the largest parts of our life. I wrote my five down, struggling a little bit. Community, Neighbors, Church, Pets, Family. Then.....then, I was asked to let go of one. Drop one sticky note on the floor. Except, it wasn't that simple. You weren't just dropping one sticky note, you were dropping a piece of who you are. Why did you let go of that one thing first? How did it feel to let go of that one thing?

I dropped community first. I looked at community as a place. I can learn to live and love in a new place, as long as I still have my neighbors, church, pets, and family.

Then, we had to drop one more.

I let go of neighbors. This might have been unfair as my neighbors, who we love, go to our church too. Honestly, I just didn't know how to let go of one more thing.

Then, we had to drop one more.

I dropped church. My pets are my kids, there was no way I want to be separated from them without knowing they're getting taken care of, without getting to see them, or worse...knowing another family would be loving them.

At this point a guy in our class shared the two sticky notes he had left, family and faith. All I could think was thank God I didn't write faith. Church was a place to worship- a group of people- and while "letting go of them" was hard, I still felt like I could have my "faith."

It was amazing what the activity was able to make us realize. In the end, we had to drop everything. There went my pets, there went my family...I was now a child in foster care.

So to ask, do I love my profession, my community, my activities more than my family. I'd say NO. I realized, if not through this exercise than certainly over the weekend, how important family is.