where faith and family come together!

Your word, Lord,
stands firm in heaven forever!
Your faithfulness extends from one generation to the next! – Psalm 119

(feature photo: Jesse, Sarah, Heather, Rebekah)

1-IMG_1313 — Tom and Rachel, Sarah Jesse and Heather

This weekend turned out to be perfect timing for a visit from Rebekah’s Jacksonville (Fla) brother, along with Heather and our youngest niece, Sarah. There’s nothing like family you love along with perfect fall weather too. Then, to make it better still, Rebekah’s sister Rachel and her husband Tom drove over from Virginia Beach to join us for worship and the afternoon.

9:00 worship was the kind of community experience that pulsates with affirmation, inspiration, encouragement, and joy. We received new members, there were children everywhere, Rebekah preached her animated best, and God’s presence was evident in every way.

It was all good, my adult-ed class was another great experience of “to teach is to learn”, and Rebekah and I returned home overflowing with God.

Diving into the Scriptures:

1-IMG_1316 But the signal moment of the day, for me, came late in the afternoon. Rebekah had just returned from officer training (she runs an eight-week class for incoming elders and deacons), and she was excited to share about the experience. Then Jesse asked her about something she’d said in her sermon that made him think (in a good way) and the two siblings fell into an animated, enthusiastic, “we-share-this-vision” conversation about the scriptures.

Before long Rebekah and Jesse both had their Bibles out and they were deep in dialogue about the beauty and the riches and the applications of the passages they were reading together.

Two pastors in very different places in their ministry: yet both pursuing God’s calling on their lives as faithfully as they know how, both wide open to learning and to constant growth and to God’s purposes, both still owning every bit of the enthusiasm they started out with years ago in seminary – only now more so, both more vibrant today, both more engaged, both more ready to serve God and to lead others into a more complete walk with Jesus.