Family

Fighting For Our Family

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Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14b ESV

I sometimes enjoy watching the HGTV shows like “Hometown” and “Love it or List It”. My favorite moment in the half hour shows is always the “Reveal”. That is when the happy couple is lead into their newly remodeled home and shown all the amazing improvements, while uplifting music plays in the background. One part we don’t notice is that most of the furniture we are seeing, is actually just staged and that if they want to keep it all, they will need to pay a bit more. While that technique is great in selling television shows or homes, it is not so great with families. In the old days, that is what we did when company came over and today it is more like posting pictures on Facebook of our family vacation or our smiling grandkids at the beach. But the real life, messy scenes that never make it to social media are our arguments, heartbreaks and tears that lurk behind every one of those staged images. But God is not shocked, offended or pushed to the brink of unfriending us when we are going through a family crisis. Instead, it is during those dark and terrible times that God chooses to teach us that He wants us to stand and fight for our family and that by His grace we can learn to love as He did. 

We fight because a family is worth defending
We fight because we love them too much to quit
We fight because no one else will come to their aid
We fight because family is a precious gift from God
And God expects us to lay down our lives
As He did His
And then stand strong in His love
When everyone else has walked away

A Little Family Time

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And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Mark 6:31 KJV

Our family times matter. Whether we are cleaning the house, going to the beach or heading to church on Sunday, the fact that we are doing them together makes it a memory worth keeping. I am loving the Mullett family picnic as they sing one of my favorite old hymns played with an Irish sounding lilt. I pray that your summer activities include taking time off, even if it is just a long weekend and build memories as a family that will last a lifetime.

Just Like Dad – Guest Post

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Re-introducing Rob Keller: Rob is a friend of mine who is not only the graphic artist behind the layout of our weekly publication Sunshine Newsletter; but he is also a writer of some of the articles. Seeing as Father’s Day is just a bit over a week away, here is one more look at being a dad.

Growing Up to be Just Like Dad by Rob Keller

Every July, my dad would bring our family to his company’s annual picnic. Because it was mostly adults and I was still a kid, I would get bored because there just wasn’t much for me to do. So, to make things interesting, I decided to entertain myself by seeing how many hot dogs, hamburgers, and steak sandwiches I could consume. On our way home, I would announce my stats and wait for the amazement to come rolling in. Aside from being a little queasy, I felt like a true champion. I had won the boy versus food challenge. As I look back at all of those picnics, there was one thing that left a lasting impression on me. All-day long, my father exchanged warm greetings and good-natured banter with a seemingly endless array of coworkers. Clearly, everyone liked my dad, and I was proud of him for that and wanted to grow up to be like him. By example, he taught me how to get along with the people around me and make them my friends.

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 NLT

I thank God for my dad, but maybe you had a distant or even abusive relationship with yours. But no matter what our earthly fathers are like, we all have a Heavenly Father who is perfect. As we spend time with Him in prayer and trust in His word, He begins working in us by His Holy Spirit. As we face complicated circumstances and difficult people in our everyday life, He helps us to grow up to be more like Him. The more time we spend with him, the greater His influence will be in our lives. Jesus’ life showed the world exactly what His Father is like. He said,

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. ” John 14:9 NIV

Even though we aren’t perfect like Jesus, as we follow Him, we can become examples of our Father in Heaven’s character to our children, friends and neighbors. Those things we have learned from God through the years are the best inheritance we can leave behind for our children. Which of God’s attributes do you want them to see?  

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I love you and I love everything about you! Please help me to grow to be more like you. I pray that the people around me would see you in me.