Family Reunion!

Our family just celebrated our 40th reunion! My mother is one of ten siblings and her mom, my MamMaw started our family reunion in 1968. She began them and eventually her children took over and so every 10 years one of us has to step up to develop a theme and put the whole shebang together. It is a BIG deal. We have a theme with a backdrop, a coloring contest for the children, a dessert contest for the adults and a silent auction to raise money for the next year. Oh! and a magnet to mark forever on our refrigerators the year of our Ledger Reunion. I have over forty cousins and believe it or not, I know every single one of them and most of their children. Our family has grown like crazy. We are scattered all over Texas but we really try to get back together for the reunion. It accomplished what my grandmother purposed when she started it - we have stayed connected.

It was so much fun in the early days to watch my cousins fall in love and get married. And oh my gosh! when we started having babies - it was insane. There were playpens, highchairs, walkers and diapers everywhere. Now the grandchildren are starting families and we are down to only 5 of the original 10 siblings. My mom couldn't make this reunion - and it was the first of 40 she's missed. I have to admit - it was sobering and a little disconcerting to look across the room and see my aunts minus my mother. Especially considering that we just lost our Daddy.

You can't have a family this big and not have a lot of drama. We've had our share of divorces, marriages, births, deaths and bad decisions. But one thing about family is - you stick together. That's how the family of God is supposed to operate. Every Sunday should be a family reunion. And despite the drama of life, we need to stand by one another. Sometimes we'll cry and sometimes we'll laugh. There will be times we want to yank someone's hair out and other times when we just need to give someone a hand up.

It's all about love. Love binds us together. Love makes us family. Love never fails. Our health does. Our patience does. Our endurance does. But love doesn't. Don't get me wrong. As much fun as our reunions are - we gripe about them up to the moment we walk through the door. But once we start seeing each other.....well, it's worth all the time, expense and trouble. The body of Christ is like that too. Sometimes we just don't want to do it anymore. My MamMaw knew that - that's why she set aside a special day to celebrate family. My Father knew that too - that's why He gave us Sunday.

With the loss of my sweet Daddy and the very poor health of my mom and stepdad, I left the reunion this year so very grateful that no matter what my future holds, I have a family that knows and understands. I am confident our reunions will continue and as elaborate as they are, they are only a faint reflection of the wonder our Heavenly Father has planned for us when we all 'reunion' on streets of gold at a heavenly banquet table. So until that time comes, let's take care of each other. Let's love more and criticize less. Because after all - we're family.

John 13: 35

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

This weekend was my ten year anniversary retreat. It was the first time I have ever done a retreat where I was in charge of the whole thing and it was a little nerve wracking. There is the whole money thing. The registrants. The room assignments. The food. The decor. The scheduling. ETC. Then you worry - yes, speakers worry - will anyone come? Can I juggle it all?

God be praised it was the sweetest retreat. I stopped counting at 12 churches represented and we only had 40 women there! Yet there was the sweetest spirit of love and unity. Women helping one another. Visiting with one another. Finding points of common interest in their lives. Praying together. Breaking bread together. Studying together. It was a foretaste of heaven.

Our goal for the weekend was to return to our first love. To come back to the understanding of all that salvation meant for us - all that Jesus had done for us for love. He was a smashing success. I have heard from woman after woman that she was washed and renewed. And I give Him all the glory for that miracle.

If you weren't there I want you to know I thought of you. So many churches throughout the years have allowed me the immense privilege of opening God's word to them and especially in those early days, I'm sure I had much less to say than I thought I did. But you are in my heart and I count myself unworthy to have been in your churches, retreat centers and "in your face."
I love you girls. You have filled me with such joy and love as I ministered to you in His name. I do not esteem that lightly.

I don't know what God has for the future of FPM and I frankly don't think about it much. He's done a great job so far despite me. I think I will trust Him to write the rest of my script.

I love you all. God bless your week.

What To Say?

What do you blog about after last week? I spent Friday night in a hotel in Tyler amidst shell-shocked evacuees who had no idea what to expect from their homes on the coast or even when they could go home. I see pictures on the television of the devastation and hear the predictions of months without electricity, running water - much less safe water and the dire predictions of gasoline shortages and price-gouging. Life is so hard.

And yet this morning the sun is shining, a cool breeze is blowing and it seems to whisper, "It's going to be OK. I am still on the throne."

How do you respond to the challenges of life? What do you say when the world seems to be falling apart? There is one plus to aging and that is experience. The longer we live the more we experience the faithfulness of God. There is a wonderful old hymn that says it best:

Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

It is ours to trust Him. Just as the fury of Ike swept through our state on Saturday - Sunday brought the sunshine. Just as the destruction of wind and water reduced buildings to rubble, they will be rebuilt. Just as our hearts sink in fear, they will again sing praises. Why? Because we are created in His image and He is a God of redemption. He makes all things new - including hearts and spirits. As long the human spirit is renewed - so will manmade things be rebuilt.

But we must be obedient. We have to live lives that are pleasing to Him walking in His ways and by His precepts. Therein lies blessing. It's not always easy. Sometimes we want to stay in our own safe corner of the world and pretend it doesn't affect us. But God's word says that when one hurts we all hurt. When we feed or bring water to the least, we do it unto Him.

What to say? Trust God. Obey Him. Do good. Love others. Help where you can. Reach out to those who are struggling. Show them Jesus. You may not know what to say but you know God loves them. You may not have much to give but you have yourself.

Maybe Hurricane Ike will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as we rise above our own complacency to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world and the world will know that we are Christians by our love.

Psalm 1: 3

"And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season."

It seems I was awakened to a new world this morning. After what always seems to me to be an interminably long and hot summer there is a cooler breeze, a lessening of humidity and rain. And despite the knowledge that summer always gives way to fall, I never fail to be surprised by the change. God's faithfulness to the seasons is a picture of the life of the believer who plants their roots deeply into a relationship with Jesus. As Hurricane Gustav plowed through the Gulf coast states there was a lot of press about uprooted trees and downed power lines. That is the purpose of storms - to uproot and tear down. The trees that are left standing are the ones with the deepest roots.

That's one of our goals as believers - deep roots. Some people believe that deep roots mean a dogged pattern of belief that refuses to budge. But if you have ever planted and tended to a young tree you know that inflexibility will cause a tree to snap. The tree has to have the freedom to bend and sway along with stability to grow strong and upright. Same with you and me. A careful study of God's word will reveal that He rarely revealed Himself to the patriarchs in the same way. One burning bush. One march around a city seven times. One giant with one stone. The greats of scripture never trusted God for yesterday's manna. They sought Him - and were commanded to see Him - fresh daily. Same for you and me. God never changes. His word never changes. But in a relationship - we change. We grow. We learn to respond more quickly to His voice. He entrusts us with more. That is what a living and dynamic relationship is all about.

The second goal is to produce fruit. We aren't meant to just look good or withstand storms. We are meant to produce fruit - but notice - in season. Sometimes we get impatient with ourselves - at least I know I do with myself. I get tired of repeating the same old offenses and falling into the same old pits. But just as God is faithful to the seasons of the year, He is faithful to your life and mine. He will bring fruit from our lives. Our part is to stay planted.

I love the change of the seasons. It is the whisper of the promise of God's goodness to the days ahead. He is faithful. Isn't that a wonder when you consider how unfaithful we tend to be? So as the rain gently falls this morning and I watch the young trees outside my window bend and sway, I too will bless the Lord for roots that grow deep and fruit that grows sweet. And I will trust Him to produce that fruit in my life and yours in His timing.