Dear Fellow Children of God,
Perhaps you know I am on vacation with my wife, Kathy. Last October we planned to visit my family this
January, after the Christmas rush was over.
We are in Florida and have already spent time with my dad, my sister and
brother in law, and one of my 3 brothers.
On Sunday our whole family and lots of nieces and other relatives will
also gather. We are fortunate to have a
big family where we all enjoy each other’s company. That is a blessing from God.
One thing that happens in our family is that we also pick
on one another. (I am telling you this
for a reason.) I think we grew up that
way. My grandfather and other older
relatives sort of picked on each other as a way to say, “I’m noticing you. You’re funny.
I love you anyway.” This behavior
has been handed down through the generations.
Lots of families act in this manner.
Maybe yours does too. Like I
said, I tell you this for a reason.
While on vacation I have also done some fishing and
golfing in the 5 days we have been here and I posted a picture of a fish, a
crappie I caught in the Santa Fe River.
One of our Facebook friends and church elder, Donita Odland, commented that it
was nice to see a picture of a fish instead of a picture of me napping at the
computer.
You see, over the years my children have enjoyed picking
on their dad. Most kids do. They learned this behavior from their mom,
and of course also from me. Since cell
phones and Facebook have become part of our lives, my children have started
posting pictures of me napping with the computer in my lap. It is a little embarrassing. Perhaps they are saying that I encourage them
to work hard, but, “Look at you. You’re resting.” Maybe they just like picking on Dad. But my family has been posting these
embarrassing pictures for a number of years.
My wife first posted such picture a over 6 years ago. My daughter has also posted pictures of me napping. My son Tim has posted one such picture this
past Christmas Day, which he has since taken down. On a previous family visit to Florida in 2011,
even one of my nieces posted a picture of me napping with the computer in my
lap. Do you see a pattern?
So, we were at my sister’s house on Friday. I had golfed and then eaten and was checking
e-mail. In my e-mails, a lot of people were
commenting on the fish picture I put on Facebook. I guess I fell asleep at the computer again for
about 2 or 3 minutes. But, when I spoke,
Kathy said, “You’re back with us again.”
I pointed out it was just a short nod and then replied that I was
looking at messages about the fish picture I shared. I mentioned to Kathy and Martha that in one
of those messages Donita had mentioned it was nice to see a fish picture
instead of an embarrassing nap picture. Then, my sister replied, “I’m trying to
post one right now.” Ugh!
This is not a deep theological devotion, I’m on
vacation. But there are a couple of
spiritual truths in this story. First,
it is nice to have people care about you and let you know they are watching
you, even if they do so by picking on you in a gentle way. Thanks for caring Rockey family!
Second, all of us have habits and behaviors which are
embarrassing. We all have our short
comings and failings. In fact, in all
our lives there are behaviors that rebel against God and hurt others. We are all sinners.
When confronted with our embarrassing behaviors, or our
weaknesses, or our sins, it does no good to deny or ignore those short comings
and failures. The best thing to do is to
admit them. We are all sinners and confession
really is good for the soul.
Perhaps, we don’t need to do anything about some of our
personal peculiarities. I’m not sure
that if I stopped napping at the computer the world would be a better
place. But it is good to admit that we
are all fallible. And, sometimes when we
admit our shortcomings, or faults, or sins, we can work on ourselves and grow
in our relationship with God and with one another. We all have room to grow!
There
is only one who is perfect, Jesus. 1
John 2:1-2 says, “My dear
children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the
whole world.”
In other words, all of us have faults and we need a
Savior. We have the Savior we need in
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. All of
us need to be loved, so God gives us family to (ahem) notice one another.
A Child of God, Thankful for my family,
Pastor Jonathan
****
P.S. I went to
Facebook and made an album of some of the “napping at the computer pictures”
others had posted. Here it is. https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/January152016
P.P.S The last two
weeks we had baptisms at St. John. Here
are some pictures from these blessed, life-changing events.
P. P.P.S. Here is
the fish I brought home on Thursday. This does not include a picture of the
pole I broke as I tried not to tip over the canoe. (I was
successful in staying dry.) https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/FloridaVacationJanuary2016
P. P. P.P.S. Last
week’s devotion included a typo, where one whole line was left off. Sorry about that. Here is a corrected
version. http://jonrock53.blogspot.com/2016/01/grandchldren-teaching-us-to-be-thankful.html
****
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.
****
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