Prayer

Measure each day God allows you
By the sacred value God sees in you.
Savor each moment God grants you
In the knowledge God loves you.
In the seeking of God
Comes wisdom.
In the living of God
Comes life.
Therefore, measure life
By the sacred wisdom
Of God's love for you
Shown in Christ.

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don

Our Family Is Growing

Our family is growing.

This last weekend our middle son, Raymond, exchanged his covenantal vows of marriage with his long-time sweetheart, Kara. As the day wound to a close and the DJ silenced the music, as the table decorations were collected and the bartenders cleaned the last of the glasses, as the staff of the reception hall stripped the table cloths and stacked the chairs, and as we moved flowers and decorations into place for loading into our cars and vans, it struck me just how blessed we are to witness our family growing in such fantastic and wonderful ways.

Just hours before as Nancy and I escorted Ray up the aisle in preparation to receive his bride, my eyes welled with tears of pride and joy in the choices our children are making. Ray and Kara had chosen to have both of their parents escort them down the aisle, not just the traditional father-of-the-bride, they had chosen to include as many of their family and friends in their wedding as possible, they had chosen to fill the service of worship with beautiful voice, organ and string music, they had chosen to 'take their stand together' before God with those closest to them in attendance, and they had chosen to make the worship environment one of beauty and peace with all sorts of flowers, grains, and greenery spilling into the sanctuary. Kara and Ray, not above any others, but certainly displaying their own priorities and confidences, chose to become a particular family in their own right in a manner which best extends their own sense of family: inclusively, lovingly, caringly, carefully, intentionally, fully, faithfully. Certainly, what Ray and Kara are becoming is something of a mirror image of the homes in which they grew up, but, more importantly, what they are becoming is a mirror image of the One in whom they continue to mature and grow. They are children of God first . . . and have chosen to live that truth together in the world we share . . . and as parents, we are blessed to be witnesses to the choices they are making.

I pray for them God's richest blessings of faith and perseverance on the journey. I pray for them patience and understanding with each other. I pray for them prosperity and success that exceeds any checkbook balances. And I pray for them peace and joy in the love of God which they share in each other's arms. I pray for them a father's prayer that the Father watch over them continually.

Our family is growing . . . in wisdom and appreciation of God's goodness and abundance as evidenced in these two children and the choices they are making. May God grant us all the courage of our convictions to grow so well.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don