My mother’s family, the Registers, will be having its annual reunion
Saturday in Alabama. It ha
s
been held the Saturday before Labor Day for
many years. Sandra and I plan to go. It’s a time to be with
the family and renew very important family ties. It
used to be a time to see
grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.
Now, the cousins are the only ones left, except for my
mother; she is the only child of Jessie and Sally Register who
remains. I lost my last uncle, Lee, and my last aunt, Sara, since
the last reunion. So that just leaves my mother. It will be a sad
time for her, but she wouldn’t miss the occasion for anything. I
always enjoy reconnecting with my cousins, and learning about the
directions their lives have taken, and sharing what’s happing in
mine. The amazing thing is that they are all getting older – of
course, I’m not, right? Wrong!
My physical family is spread all over the
country. Just in my immediate family, my mother and brother live
four hours away in central Alabama. I am seven hours from my sister
who lives in Long Beach, Mississippi. Three of my children and eight
grandchildren live two and a half hours away, and one child and two
grandchildren live eight hours away. My cousins and their families
live all over the country. I don’t get to see any them
nearly as often as I’d like – that’s one of the down sides to being
in the ministry.
But guess what! I have
another family – my spiritual
family! And they live right
nearby! Some live just up the road, some just across the
creek from me; some just across town; but all only a short distance
away. And I get to see and be with them
often – several times a week. And it is a great
blessing, because my spiritual
family is as important to me spiritually,
as my earthly family is
physically. And actually, I
feel closer to my
spiritual family here at
Central, than I do those of my earthly
family who are not Christians. I have so much more in common with
my spiritual family because my service to Jesus
through that family is the focus
and center of my life. And
those of my earthly family who
are not Christians have a much different
focus, a worldly one. And I
want no part of that. Now, I have a
special blessing in that a good
portion of my earthly
family is also in my spiritual
family; and we do have the same
spiritual focus. But not all of
the Missildines or Registers are Christians, so that spiritual bond
can’t be there. Don’t get me wrong, I love
them dearly. But I just don’t
have much in common with them.
But
not so with my spiritual family here at Central! And all the
Family Reunions
are precious – 
every
Sunday, every Wednesday, and lots of times in between; any
chance we get! We
worship together. We join our
voices to lift praise to our
Father. We join our
hearts together to go before Him with thanksgiving and
petition in prayer. We commune
with each other and with the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit as we
remember the precious gift of salvation in Jesus. We pool our
material resources as a gift to them, and to accomplish the work
they have given us to do here on the earth.
Family Reunions are great!
In my spiritual
family there’s no fussing and fighting. There’s no sibling
rivalry. At other Family
Reunions during the week we take care of each other, whatever the
needs are. We laugh
together when good things happen.
We cry together when the bad
times come. We hurt for each other
when anyone is sad or hurting, and we
rejoice with each other when any good thing happens to
any one of us. We provide each other’s spiritual needs, and very
often even physical ones.
Some of our spiritual “fathers and mothers”
lovingly correct the younger ones; and that’s what’s
supposed to happen in strong,
close families. Sometimes that’s needful and necessary; but in it,
love always abounds! And
through it we grow and become stronger.
I’ll enjoy going to the Register reunion
Saturday in Alabama. But I will be anxious to get back to my
spiritual Family Reunion in
Dalton on Sunday here at Central. I love my earthly family; but I
also love my spiritual family –
dearly! My brothers and sisters
are precious to me, and I can’t wait
for those Family Reunions every week!
How about you?
I
really do love you -- Ronnie
