Family Reunion

On June 28-July 7, Evelyn and I called everyone of our family to come to a family reunion. We have done this many years over the past twenty years or so. We have had reunions in Flagstaff, Arizona; Malibu, California; twice at Red River, New Mexico; Nashville, Tennessee; and Galveston, Texas. [Did I miss a place somewhere sometime? My memory is slipping!!!]. THIS TIME, we went to Possum Kingdom Lake near Mineral Wells and Breckenridge, Texas. Our "family" is "blood" relatives and long-time spiritual relatives. We had 17 participants, 10 males and 7 females. This ranged all the way from 75 to 4 weeks of age--so all the way from great-grandparents to great-grandchildren.

What happens when people have a "family reunion"? It is always very diverse. Each person has a unique set of interests. Each age is at a certain point in life. We did some fishing. Some canoed and kayaked. Some did some hiking. We worked together through two 1,000 piece picture puzzles. We played rook. We watched the Rangers. GO RANGERS!!! But, best of all, we did a lot of talking. We got "caught up" on current events in our lives. We remembered events in our lives through the years. We talked about many experiences we had in Europe and Asia and South America and Africa and throughout the USA. As we thought of all these, we have been so blessed. We are diverse, but we are united, and we love one another.

Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:15-24 relate a parable of Jesus telling about a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son, and invited many people to come. Some came, but many made excuses to avoid coming to the banquet. One said: "I cannot come because I bought a piece of land and I must go and see it." Another said: "I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out." Still another said: "I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come." In this parable, the king is God the Father, and his Son is Jesus Christ. God wants all people to come to His banquet, His dinner. But there are ALWAYS GOOD REASONS NOT to accept such an invitation. SO, the king sent out other invitations to others, and finally, enough people came to fill the banquet.

This is the way life is. God WANTS all people to come to his REUNION. The invitation is there. He REALLY WANTS all to come. But there are ALWAYS GOOD REASONS NOT to come. But have you noticed that those who DO COME do so at a great price. They have to take their money, their effort, their time, their sacrifice in order to come. It is never easy to come to a reunion.

It is a matter of a "mind set." Inevitably, because of family backgrounds, ages, preferences, jobs, traditions, foods, tastes, THE WORKS--this person or that person in the family will NOT LIKE one or more others in that family for one reason or another. This is just a FACT OF LIFE for EVERY FAMILY. And this is just as true of GOD'S FAMILY. YET, God EXPECTS all people to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. There is a big difference between LIKE and LOVE.

If we cannot LEARN to LOVE ONE ANOTHER in a family, how can we EVER imagine we can LEARN to LOVE ONE ANOTHER in God's family? God calls all people to come to a FAMILY REUNION. Will YOU come when he calls--or will you fill the air with GOOD EXCUSES?

Tell me about YOUR REUNION. Ours was wonderful!!! Everyone who came "tolerated" all the others. We had a great time. We love one another now more than we did before. I hope you have the same experience.

Peace,

John Willis