Being With You...

Over the last week you may have noticed that I have been talking about some old family photos that I have discovered as I’ve been unpacking since our move to North Carolina a few weeks ago.  My walk down memory lane has had a special purpose as I and our youngest son’s future mother-in-law have been working on a special project for the upcoming wedding next month. 

Like I said in an earlier blog, this adventure has had its ups and downs as I’ve come across countless pictorial records of the life of my wife and I over the last 44 years.  Wow!  Stop and think about that for a moment… I’ve had the privilege and honor of being with the most fantastic woman in the universe (I’m sure that I might just be a little prejudice here!) for almost half a century!  And like I have said from the beginning, there is absolutely no doubt in either of our minds that it was a match made in heaven!

Yesterday I spent the majority of the day copying the pile of pictures that I had collected into digital files so that I could email them to Oklahoma City where Aubrey’s (Jeremy’s fiancé) mom lives.  Toward the end of the task my attention seemed to be focused on many of the family group shots taken over the years.  When I finally sat down and thought about things, I had the warm and happy feeling that we had done a pretty good job in the raising of our kids.

The various pictures taken over the year’s document kids that were laughing, smiling and having fun!  I believe our children had the opportunity to be themselves as they grew up.  Our youngest daughter recently told me that she really was thankful to her mom for always encouraging her to do the things that she dreamed of, no matter how silly or unusual it was to others who tended to plan their future in terms of how much money their chosen career might bring in.  Today all of our kids are very creative and musically inclined.

When we moved back to California after our stay in Oklahoma and my wife’s health situation came to full fruition, we (that means me…) took a lot of heat from some that were close to us because of the way they thought we sorely fell short in the way we provided financially and extended love and security to our family.  As I looked back at all the pictures though, I just don’t see that!  What I saw were kids that were free to try on different roles as they grew up. Kids that had a lot of fun throughout their childhood and in 2014 are individuals that love the Lord, are close knit, give freely to others around them, and are responsible adults that are living a happy and productive-to-society life!

The Apostle Paul told the church in Thessalonica that he knew of their success in life because he could see that “the Good News we brought came to you not only with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with complete certainty.” (I Thessalonians 1:5 God’s Word ©)  Like I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, Paul looked for and saw constructive actions that followed their faith and used what he saw as the bases of his positive discussion.

As I read through I Thessalonians I get the definite impression that Paul enjoyed being around the people in Thessalonica.  From what I see, these people were happy and fun to be around!  They took the Good News that Paul preached in exactly the same way he preached it and lived it out with power, the Holy Ghost and with a complete certainty in their expectations of it working in, for and through them to those they bumped into throughout their daily lives.

Do you know people like that?  I sure do and they are very pleasant to be with.  After having been around someone like this I always feel encouraged, built up and pleasantly happy!  On the other hand, I have also had the displeasure of having to spend time with others who are not like this and I always feel physically and emotionally spent after being in their presence.  Like I have written of before, one of the hardest things that I had to do over the last five years was to physically draw away from some folks that we had at one time been rather close to.  I had come to the conclusion that I had to protect my wife who would become so emotionally and physically withdrawn after spending time with these folks that it was visibly destructive to her recovery.

Have you ever considered how your presence might affect those around you?  Do your mannerisms project sadness in life or do you allow the joy of the Godly life you have chosen to live ooze out from you?  I have found that whenever I enter into a room with my wife in a transport chair, that I have to be on constant alert in order to control the emotional environment of the situation.  One of my most used phrases over this time period has been the interjection of “but we’re not giving up, because we serve a mighty God who is still in the healing business!”

Most times that statement of faith acts like a splash of cold water on the face and causes others to grab at the hand up that is being offered them.  Believe it or not, I have had the most problems from other Christians rather than from non-believers!  Go figure it?  How do others see you?  Are you like the Thessalonians whom the Apostle Paul enjoyed being with, or like some whom you can’t wait to say good-bye to?  Have a good day.  Stay in tune and in faith to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting today?”