The Trini-what?

As a Christian leader in ministry, I see a lot of different perspectives from one person or people group to another as it pertains to the Christian faith. What's more, I see those differences in the Christian faith itself too. However, a general consensuses most Christians do agree on is that God exists in three persons called the Trinity. They are God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Recently I came across a mother and daughter who were self-professed Christians but had never heard of the Trinity. They even stated that they're denomination didn't believe in the Trinity because it simply didn't make sense. I used to be a part of that denomination and I assure you, they do believe in the Trinity. Without the Trinity, the Christian faith begins to unravel...but that's a different post for another time. So, back to the point here, they're confusion over the issue was that the Trinity wasn't possible. How could God be father and son and still something else. To answer this, I turn to something I learned from my sisters church.

Most explanations of the Trinity come in the form of physical items that take on 3 distinct qualities. For example, water. It can be in a liquid form, the gas form we know as steam, or the solid form we know as ice. However, I've never felt that does justice to the reality of God's positions in the Trinity. It doesn't help us grasp how people relate because H2O isn't alive. I prefer the model of ourselves. Take me, for example. I was born to great parents 33 years ago. I am a son. However, 7 years ago I also became a father when my wife and I had our first child. So, now I am a father AND a son. But it doesn't end there. I was the third of 3 children. I am also a brother. How is it that I can be one person but exist as three different people? Well, because I simply am all those things. No matter how you slice it, I'm a father, a son, and a brother and the list goes on. If I can be these things as one person, how much more can the God of the universe exist in three persons as one God? Suddenly, this all is beginning to make more sense...don't ya think?