Off we go into the wild blue yonder

Off we go into the wild blue yonder.
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one heckuva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

I heard that song more than once over the last few days. As I write this I am in San Antonio, TX for my son-in-law's graduation from Air Force Basic Military Training. We heard it Thursday at a family briefing and again at the Coin Ceremony. We heard it Friday at Graduation. We heard it again today playing in the background in one of the buildings that we were walking through.

It is a great song. It is encouraging and awe inspiring. And I have been thinking a lot about the lyrics. Especially the first two lines of the song. And if you will allow me to slightly rewrite the second line by changing the spelling of "sun" to "Son", I find myself thinking about the day when we will be caught up to meet our Savior in the air.

What a day that will be. When my Jesus, I shall see.

Hey wait a minute. That's another lyric. I will post about that some other day.

Family . . .

I have had a few thoughts rattling around inside my head for a while relating to family. I guess that is somewhat thematic for me lately.

My thinking and ponderings about "family" all started a few weeks ago when my daughter got married. It was great day. It was a great day in spite of the fact that Mom and Dad couldn't make it for the wedding. It was a great day in spite of the fact that we were all still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Ike. It was great day in spite of many other little things that could have caused the day to be a flop.

And in the end, it was "family" that made the day.

But wait a minute. Didn't I just say that some family couldn't make it to the wedding?

Yes, that is what I said. Perhaps you, like I did up until that time, also have too narrow of a definition of family. As that wedding day approached and in the days following, I got a whole new and expanded definition of family.

• Family = My brother and his wife coming all the way from Michigan to perform the wedding.
• Family = One of my oldest and dearest friends driving all night long from Ohio with his wife to perform the wedding with my brother.
• Family = A very dear family friend from our old church stepping up and offering to be the wedding coordinator when she has a plate that is way too full already.
• Family = A group of college kids, that probably couldn't afford it, flying down from Ohio and working like slaves to decorate the church and then help clean up while the bride and groom slipped away for the honey moon.
• Family = A guy that I used to work with that called me out of the blue and offered me his generator free of charge after his electricity was restored.
• Family = A guy that I have known for the past 7 years who left from the emergency room where his son was receiving treatment from an injury that morning that occurred while handing out ice and water to those in need.
• Family = Our church friends that came out and celebrated the wedding ceremony with us when they didn't even really know the bride and groom.

So, what is your definition of "family"?

I bet it could probably be defined a lot like Jesus defined "neighbor" in the famous parable known as The Good Samaritan.

My definition of family has expanded since the events leading up to and following the wedding. God is helping me to come to grips with family as it relates to the family of God that is the Church.

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God.
I've been washed in the fountain.
Cleansed by His blood.
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod.
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.

Words and Music by William J. Gaither