Matthew 12: 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
I had some great family time over labor day weekend. The main reason for our trip was to clean out as much of mom’s stuff from her house as we could. Mom graduated from Erlanger, KY to heaven last November. We all were glad for her to receive her eternal reward, and in her passing, we saw more clearly who she was in Christ and all the good works that the Lord had enabled her to do. But we miss her, and I knew that being with my family, going through her stuff, would be emotional. My brothers and I were greatly helped by our wives, nephews and nieces, our cousin, and one of mom’s closest friends. When we arrived Thursday evening to begin our work, some were inclined to take it all in before we began shuffling boxes and filling up bags for the thrift store. I know that I wanted some time to pay attention to my feelings. I was comforted to be with my family.
Saturday night we had an 80’s youth group reunion. Fifty or more gathered and told stories for a few hours. We prayed for each other. We talked about my mom. We cried and laughed. A fire alarm went off and we were scattered. The event was basically over, but we didn’t leave. We waited outside for the fire department and some of us went back inside to visit and to pray. Some of my church family from those days were hurting, and we prayed together for each other. One old friend knew that one of her current struggles matched up with one of mine, and we decided to be prayer partners as we seek what only God can do for us.
I see the lines that connect to me those around me: some are blood–the blood of my ancestors that I share with my grandparent’s descendants, but the bloodline of Jesus connects me deeply to those who love the will of God.
