Jai Swaminarayan,

When you think of your family, who do you think of? Probably your parents and your siblings. But, do you also think of your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins? Do you ever think of Maharaj and our gurus?

First, let’s talk about a family member’s qualities. What should you, as a family member, be like? A family member should be kind, respectful, and helpful. We should always be there for our family by supporting them. Our families will do anything to keep us safe and keep us on the right path to have a better future. Even if they are older or younger than us, they will always stick with us—so we should respect them and love them!

Our gurus have not only respected their families, but they have treated their devotees as family as well. In March of 1952, it was the day after ekadashi and Yogi Bapa had done nirjala upvas — fast without eating or drinking all day. Yogi Bapa was doing vicharan in the Vadodara district despite the hot weather. After his long morning of many padhramani, Yogi Bapa finally got the chance to eat lunch at a devotee’s home. But, before Yogi Bapa could start having his food, a devotee came in and said, “Let’s go Bapa. Please come visit my home now.” He asked Yogi Bapa to hurry and visit his home. His home was the only one Yogi Bapa couldn’t visit earlier since no one was home. Everyone was upset at this sudden request. But, Yogi Bapa got up and went with the haribhakta. He didn’t care that he didn’t get to eat lunch because he wanted to make the haribhakta happy and respected the request of the haribhakta.

Just like this, we can show our love and care for our family members by respecting each other and helping out when needed with a smile. It can be hard to do this sometimes, but if we remember all of the amazing and thoughtful things our gurus have done for us, we will be able to do the same for not only our family members, but for others as well.

Until next time!

Jay Swaminarayan from the ‘kids.baps.org’ team