Because she was the last... we reflected on the whole...
Six siblings... with 24 offspring... spent the majority of their lives... within a 50 mile radius of each other... celebrating every holiday on the calendar with a Gather Up... aunts... uncles... cousins... an unusual family of love and grace...
A legacy... resting on the past... their parents... Claude and Pearl... a Baptist minister and his wife... living on faith through the Depression...
Family... and faith... the foundation of a love... that bound... binds... with grace...
I learned new things about this family... a grandfather... one I never knew... was a man of faith... for all people... died of a heart attack... on his way to preach at a black church... his congregation criticizing... pressing him not to go... persecuting...
The beloved aunt... the youngest of the six... played basketball in high school at a time when shorts were first introduced for girls teams... her father... a man of ideals... said she would not... she the lone player... in the long skirt... respecting her father's wishes... and following in his faith...
She... the only one of the six... married in a church ceremony officiated by her dad... all others eloped...
She known... by those who spoke... as one who stood up for what was right... according to God... and faith... despite what the world said...
A woman of prayer... from parents of prayer... many of the siblings... and spouses... filled with faith... overflowing into the lives of those who wandered... for a time... from the Way...
Confirmation of a vision... several years ago... the source of my faith... questioned... my dad... one who strayed...
I had little exposure to faith except through family... gathering up... I asked God... How did this happen to me...? With the model I had... why did You choose me...?
The answer came... with an impression of prayer... prayer of past generations... my grandparents... praying... for their children... and children's children... even before I was born... or known... both passed on ten years before I was...
Prayer... the language of God... not bound by time... or space... an eternal language...
A family legacy begun... by a couple... who heard a call... and said Yes...
A family legacy continued... by those for whom they prayed... who heard... and said Yes... a prayer... I hope... extending to... the children's children's children...
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me...." John 12:23-26
Lord... may You be glorified... in and through... a family filled with imperfections... generation... after generation... overflowing... into the lives of others... Continue to call... continue to provide the faith... and the Way...
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