I Remember Family

I REMEMBER how, as a youngster, I always looked forward to the months of summer.  Strangely enough, when my two children were approximately the same age, they had similar desires for summertime.  Part of the explanation is that we were so happy to be out of school, but there is more to our tale, especially as regards to our offspring.  They were overjoyed at the prospect of having some vacation time with their cousins.  You see, we are a tight “family” who enjoy and benefit from fellowship together.

There is one segment of our “clan” that is particularly close, in large part due to the closeness of ages.  My sister, who was just three years older than I, and her husband have four children, three of whom are about the same ages as my two kids. In addition to being close in age, they all have much in common and enjoy doing similar things.  When summer came, it gave us the chance to be “family”.

To illustrate how inviolable our concept of “family” is, consider this:  my sister’s husband is a Yankee!  Yet, despite this strike against him, he has always been “one of us”.  In fact, he has always been one of my best and closest friends.  

Furthermore, my sister (now with her Lord in heaven), was the greatest influence on my life during the formative years of my Christian growth.  She encouraged me faithfully and just as faithfully, held me accountable for demonstrating the fact of my commitment to Jesus Christ.  It is with considerable satisfaction and joy that I see this being practiced by my grandchildren, who have been taught this “family” concept by my son and daughter.  They care for one another with genuine love.  

One major contribution to our development of this sense of “family” was those summers when we kinfolk spent vacations at the beach near Pensacola, Florida. These vacations were a combination of enjoying the beaches and of finding even more enjoyment as participants in the theological institute sponsored by a church in Pensacola. Every summer, for over a decade, our two families would rent a house on the beach and make the most of eight days of “family” with people dear to our hearts.  Even now, memories of those times bring pleasure to me – memories that yearn to once more become a reality.  But my wife and my sister, mother to the other side of the family, have departed this life and I and my brother-in-law are too old (and too infirm! –sorry, brother) to pursue such a cause.  So, will this summer not afford such joy and pleasure of “family” that once we experienced?  

Well, as I sit at my computer and endeavor to write this article, we are on the eve of another “family” reunion.  One  of my nephews, who has family at heart, in conjunction with my two “kids”, have organized a gathering to be held in Delhi, primarily to get me and my brother-in-law together. The hope is that, if we two old codgers can make the party, most of the other members of our families will be here, too.  One can only hope and pray that our family can enjoy being “family” one more time!

It will be too late for you readers to crash our party because we will have gone our separate ways by the time this article is printed.  But if you have a craving to have “family” the way the Lord intended families to be, don’t waste this summer!  Our nation could stand some old-fashioned, Godly families who love and care for one another. What do you think? Is it worth a try?  Should anyone ask me, the resounding reply would be “Yes, Yes, Yes!”