Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
While on vacation in Florida, I received an e-mail from a
member of St. John, informing me about her dad’s health. Her dad had been in the hospital
unexpectedly, suffering serious complications from blood clots. Because this health scare had come on so
quickly, even though her dad was now doing better, the young lady wrote me
these insightfully true words, “Definitely puts in perspective what’s important
in life. Time with family is precious!”
Kathy and I scheduled our vacation around a reunion of
the first college at which I prepared to serve God and His people as
pastor. Nevertheless, a side-benefit of
the timing of this reunion is that we were also able to be in Florida for two
family occasions. First, my brother
James’ daughter, Elizabeth, graduated on Sunday afternoon, April 30, from the
University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in special education. We were privileged to be part of the 12,000+
people gathered for this event. “Time
with family is precious.”
In addition, on Tuesday, May 2, James’ wife, Martha,
underwent surgery for a glioma, a brain cancer.
Together with others, our whole family attended a party at James’ home on
Sunday evening. All my brothers and
sister and their spouses, along with my dad, were gathered together. The desire for this time was to focus on the
blessings of Elizabeth’s graduation rather than on Martha’s coming
surgery. However, we were also all
thinking about the upcoming surgery, and we each shared wishes with Martha for
God’s blessings through the coming trial.
Kathy was even able to give Martha some “Tigger” pajamas and a blanket
she had sewn so that after the surgery Martha can “bounce back!” Yes, “time with family is precious!”
Another blessing of this time is that Kathy and I have
been blessed to spend time with my dad.
Living in Alaska, we don’t see him as much as my other siblings do. But, while in Florida we got to spend some
time with my dad most every day. Dad
will be 90 on September 22, but he attended worship on Sunday, April 30, as he
usually does, only this time we joined him.
Then he walked the steps to the second level of the O’Connell Dome for
Elizabeth’s graduation. Later that
afternoon and evening Dad was present for the celebration at James’ home and
spent time with each of his five children.
Yes, “time with family is precious!”
There
are many verses in Scripture teaching us that family is the plan of God for His
people. At the beginning, as God
created, He said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I
will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18) In the Psalms we are told, “God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6). Even as Jesus was dying on the cross, He
cared for His mother by giving the disciple, John, responsibility to watch over
her. “26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved
standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’
27 and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple
took her into his home.” (John 19:26-27) God also instructed the
early church through Paul about family relationships and responsibilities. Among other things, Paul wrote, “1
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your
father and mother"-- which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3
"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the
earth." 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up
in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1-4)
Families have their difficult times as well as
their times of blessing and support.
But, the plan of our Lord and Creator is that families are to be a gift
to us from God to help in our journey through this life.
All of this points us to our larger family. There are also many verses in Scripture which
describe our relationship with God and with His children as a relationship of
family. (E.g., Galatians 4:4-7, Hebrews
2:10-11) But, perhaps no words are more
descriptive than the opening words of the prayer which Jesus taught us, “OUR FATHER.” Because God is Father, we are His
children! Because God is OUR Father, we
have brothers and sisters, including
Jesus. Even those with no living
human relatives, as created and redeemed children of God do have a family in
God’s church. And, “time with
family is precious!”
Among those in God’s family who have been especially on
my heart is David Grosz, whose recent discovery and bout with lymphoma has
shocked us all. Yet, we have a heavenly
Father, caring for us. Along with our
Savior and brother, Jesus, the members of God’s church are seeking to support
and care for David and family. Even
while I am on vacation, David is daily in my prayers. And, in the last couple of weeks two of
David’s children have traveled to Palmer to spend time with their dad. You see, families are not an invention of
human society. Families are God’s
plan! Our earthly family, and our
heavenly family. And, “time with family
is precious!”
A Child of God,
Thankful for God’s Gift of Family,
Pastor Rockey
P.S. Here are some pictures from time with
family in Florida. https://goo.gl/photos/sY1HDrb1d1jS79G87
P.P.S. While “Thoughts from the Pastor” is primarily
intended for the members and friends of St. John, it has also been printed
weekly in our local newspaper, The Frontiersman, for almost 6 years. The Frontiersman has recently had
changes. In order for this week’s
devotion to get in this week’s paper, I am attempting to get these devotions
out at the beginning of each week to make a new Wednesday deadline. So, you are receiving this message a little earlier
this week, and hopefully in the future.
******
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE
PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to
all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this
e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message.
******
No comments:
Post a Comment