July 5, 2013 Shelley’s birthday today. Born to us by way of the grace of God, from love’s embrace, and though our dear Pat, Baptist Hospital, and brought home to began her life with us at the old Parsonage, now the Youth and James Club building at Wells Church. As we celebrate her day, we can’t help but add that now Shell and her husband Chris, these thirty-eight years later, have brought to us a brand new wonder named Reese Emory Herndon. We are ‘born’ to each other in more ways than one. Many excellent artists bless our Church. Kit Fields is one. (She did that lovely watercolor of Pat and me a couple of years ago, following Pat’s death.) She and I are working on a book for children that’s to be called: Red Door, Green Door. Some come in through the Red Door, some come through the Green. When we are in and together, love begins its family making. It’s about finding one another, and all the ways families are made. The book says that love trumps genetics when it’s real and shared. Practiced love makes families. All the rest comes after that. Our kids and grand kids are all very human, but dear God, how they have make the world come alive, and how they do bless. Tracy and Jeff named one of their sons Griffin Wells (after the Church). Imagine that---a preacher’s kid wanting to remember the Church that loved them and others so very well! The rest of our family deserves space here too. Maybe later. I prefer names and not labels. Have you noticed how we stick people into categories based on labels? Black, white, tall, short, rich, poor, straight, gay, liberal, conservative, the lists go on. Each group calls itself something or is called something by others. But each of us is someone: A person, a name, a complex bundle of feeling, thinking, being, and doing. No one fits fully into someone else’s definition of who they are. All are some of this and some of that, and some of the other. Labels fail to label. The decision to call people by their name and honor them as a one of a kind and unique child of God just might allow us to grow a little and value time with people who are people—not labels. Not feeling ‘On top of the world,’ this morning. (Can’t help but remember Earl, can we?*) Wonder how many times he answered that way when he felt like the devil. It’s a direction, a destination, and way to go. It’s wanting to get ‘there.’ Sleep twenty minutes, head to potty, sleep a few minutes more, tummy sick (the nausea pill works), energy down, throat sore. Everyone has his or her stuff to deal with. Docs all say that we are doing very well and for the most part it’s true. We are able to be up and around-- even out a bit. Not being able to be where you want when you want is one of those dimensions of life which calls us to look up, up even higher than the ‘top of the world.’ Your continued interest, love and faithfulness is backbone to recovery. We’ve experienced ‘grace upon grace’. It’s like a birthday calling for you to get out the climbing gear. Always love, always, Keith *Need to write more about Earl, Earl Hill. What a man. Did some of you see those two full page ads in the 4th of July newspaper, about the differing religious views of our Founding Fathers?
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:14:09 +0000
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