Three Great Christmas Presents

I received a lot of great presents this Christmas. And I don't need most of them. But I have received three great presents this year that I am especially grateful for.

The first gift that I received this year was the gift of a new son. Well, actually he is my new son-in-law. My daughter was married this year and she has added a great young man to the family. He is a man who has a heart for God and who wants to be the man that God is calling him to be. And when it comes to a son-in-law, what more can a father ask for?

The second gift that I received this year was the news that I am going to be a grandfather. My first grandchild is due to be born in March and I cannot begin to comprehend what that will be like.

The third gift came recently and came by way of my son. One of the pastors at his church came up to me at the Christmas Eve service. He said that if the measure of a man is the way that his son turns out, then I am a very fortunate man. And I think I agree with him because I am very impressed by the young man that my son has become.

So, what did you get for Christmas?

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

A Wedding to Remember

You always want your daughter to have a wedding that she will remember for a lifetime. Well we certainly got that the weekend of September 20th when our daughter Libby married her fiance Taylor.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with where we live, I will tell you that we live in the path that the eye of Hurricane Ike's passed over recently. Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast four weeks ago. The eye of the hurricane passed directly over our neighborhood early Saturday morning the 13th of September. This map shows the path that the eye of the storm.

We lost electricity the evening of the 12th of September and did not receive it again until the afternoon of the 23rd. Did I mention that the wedding was on the 20th?

As we awoke on the morning of the wedding, this was the situation relative to electricity in our zip code.
But the story of this wedding deserves to be told. And it is a story of beauty, grace, priorities, and love.

It is a story of the beauty of the bride (and her mother).

It is the story of the pride of a big brother for his little sister.
It is the story of the love a groom for his bride as he saw her for the first time that day.
It is a story of the grace of those who felt the pressure of planning a wedding under these weather conditions.

It is a story of the priorities that became clear when it became obvious that everything would not be as we had planned it.

And yes, it is a story of the love of a bride and groom for each other, a father and mother for their daughter, a brother for his sister, friends and family's love for one another. But even more importantly, it is about the love of a Heavenly Father who provided for a memorable day.

My prayer for this young couple is that they would get to experience God's love in such a real and dramatic way that it will make their marriage into the most sacred and blessed relationship that we can have. And I pray that they would be a beacon of encouragement to others and a shining example of what a christian marriage is all about.

Family

My family expanded on September 20th. At noon on that day my daughter married her sweetheart. And when she did, our family grew by one as her husband forever became a part of our family. My daughter took his name. But we took him into our hearts and lives.

Taylor, welcome to the family. We love you and we are happy to have you as part of our family.

“Family” is a topic that I am coming to have a greater appreciation for.

Back from vacation

Well, we are back home in Texas after a long vacation and road trip of nearly 1700 miles. It was the longest vacation we have ever taken as a family. And our son was able to join us fore the entire time. What a blessing! During our vacation we fulfilled the dream we had nearly 8 years ago when we wanted to take a trip that involved seeing the people that mean the most to us... our family and friends.

We flew to Columbus, OH to join up with our daughter. But before we left Ohio for the rest of the vacation we got to spend some time with our long time friends in a rousing Wii competition of Dance Dance Revolution and Mario Kart. (Be thankful there is no video posted of my attempt at DDR!) We also took advantage of the opportunity to welcome Andréa home from a semester abroad in Brazil.

We picked up some old friends and new friends and made them a part of the rest of the trip. We were joined by our long-time friend Joshua and our relatively new friend, Katie. But, the beauty of how God works is this. They are not really friends. Rather, they are family. We called them pseudo-son and pseudo-daughter throughout the time together. But that title belies our true feelings. They are not pseudo-anything. They are God's gift to us and we are grateful to Him who added them to our family for that time. And there were others that would have or could have joined with us. But that was not God's plan at this time.

We headed out for Flint, MI to visit my brother and his family. He pastors a great church in West Flint, MI and God is blessing his ministry there. We had never been able to be with him in the eight years that he has pastored there. So, it was high time we did. And God was good to us there. The weather was unbelievably gorgeous. It was a welcome respite from the heat of springtime in Houston.

From there it was off to the Ontario side of Niagara Falls. God blessed us with a rental house that was a block and a half from the river gorge and about 3 blocks from the falls. In fact we walked down to the river's edge to watch the fireworks over the falls on Monday night the 19th of May, which was Victoria Day in Canada. We even got a chance to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario while in the area. And, yes, we got a chance to see and touch the real Stanley cup!

The last weekend of vacation was spent with my folks in Warren, PA. We met last Friday night for dinner at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Cub for a tremendous dinner. We spent a few days with Mom and Dad and got caught up on all the happenings in the raging metropolis of Warren, PA!

We finished our vacation back in Mount Vernon, OH. We got our daughter somewhat settled in to her apartment for the summer. Plus we had a chance to spend some time with her boyfriend and enjoy a few meals together.

So as I sit here tonight and reflect on the past week or two I realize how blessed I am. God has blessed me with an amazing family. And He has given us amazing friends to share this journey through life with.

Mount Vernon In Spring

This past week was spent in central Ohio. Wow! It was beautiful. There were gently rolling hills, farms, small towns, and dear friends. We were in Ohio picking up our daughter from college. We also met some new friends. It doesn't get any better than this!



We will be back at the end of the summer!