Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
On
June 26-28 our extended family spent time in two of the public use cabins
operated by the State of Alaska at Nancy Lake.
This family event was actually my daughter, Mary’s, Christmas gift to
her 6 nieces and nephews. So, on Monday
morning, June 26, we talked about leaving, and on Monday afternoon 5 households
and 13 people all made their way to Nancy Lake.
Staying
in a cabin on a lake in Alaska may seem like an outdoor adventure. After all, there was water, and fish, and
birds. There were fires and sleeping
bags and lanterns. There was a boat, and
canoes, and a kayak. That sounds like
the outdoors, right?
Actually,
this trip was more of a “family adventure.”
Imagine, for example, cooking for 13 people to sit down at a meal
together. For this meal everyone has
different tastes, and some have allergies.
Would you like to plan the meal, or cook the meal on a camp stove? Imagine the safety issues for 6 children,
ages 4-9, around a lake and boats. And
what happens when Poppy (that’s me) pushes one grandchild on a rope swing and
ends up pushing another grandson into the water in his clothes? That doesn’t even begin to discuss decisions
about who sleeps in which cabin, and whether we need bear spray or not, and who
needs an air mattress. Putting all 13 of
those people into a small space for a period of time creates some interesting decisions
and dynamics!
Actually,
families have had to make these decisions since time began, only families have not
always been camping when the decisions were made. Consider some of these following questions
families face. What does a parent do
when a child has a rebellious streak and doesn’t want to follow guidance? How far should a parent go in guiding a
child? What happens when there are issues
between a husband and wife? How does a
family deal with an illness or a death?
These are just some of the questions that families face on a regular
basis.
I
have heard people say that faith and life as a child of God is “a mess.” That is true, because of the sin in our world
and in our lives. Life as a family is “messy”
too. There are issues to deal with that
are complicated. Faith and love as a
family has times of real stress.
That
is why God gives guidance and direction.
God’s directions for families are not going to prevent or take away all our
problems. But, our Lord’s loving
guidance gives the healthiest ways to deal with our messy lives and family
dilemnas. At the risk of being overly
simplistic in the difficult issues that families face, let me share with you
some of God’s directions.
- For children.- 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." (Ephesians 6:1-3)
- For parents - 4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the
training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
- For husbands and wives - 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and
be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is
a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33
However, each one of you also must
love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(Ephesians 5:31-33)
- When we face the death of a family member - 25 Jesus said to her [To Martha at the
death of her brother, Lazarus], "I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives
and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27
"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the
Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." (John
11:25-27)
- For all of us -
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind
and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you. (Ephesians
4:32)
Life
is complicated and families are “an adventure.”
But families are the plan of God from the beginning of creation. God sent His own son, Jesus, into an earthly
family with a mother and father and siblings.
God gives direction that help families deal with life’s “complications.” The verses above are just a very small tip of
the iceberg of God’s wise and loving directions to help families.
In my
photo album from our family cabin adventure I have a picture at the end with
all six grandchildren seated on the steps of the larger cabin. We had them pose for a picture. But, they were also seated there, in part,
because we had a family devotion each morning we were at the cabin. Family life is messy. God gives loving and healthy directions. We need God’s direction for our lives. One of the very best things a family can do
for it’s health is to be part of God’s family, the Church, and to listen and
follow the directions of our Heavenly Father for our families.
A
Child of God, Living the Adventure of Family as a Child of God,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here are some
pictures from our family cabin / camping adventure. https://goo.gl/photos/ZAYEKbqvBWeyVALT7
P.P.S. We only found and
caught really small fish (2” – 4”) on the family cabin trip, so the grandkids
wanted to go fishing and catch “real” fish.
They caught these stocked salmon on Sunday night, July 2, on Finger
Lake.
P.P.P.S. King fishing
is closed in our area. I tried to fish
on Friday June 30, and Monday, July 3, but closures continued. I did some trout fishing on Tuesday evening,
July 4. Here is a picture from that
trip. https://goo.gl/photos/yEfHVVXxsjSbwffS8
******
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 do not want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message.
******
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