Family Ties

It’s been two weeks since I returned from a visit to the Midwest after having been away from there for nearly three years. Other than some travel adventures on the way, we had a good trip to Kansas City and while Brian journeyed on to Indy, I stayed the week with my brother and sister-in-law and was able to visit with nieces and nephews (the little ones having grown inches, literally).

My brother took me to visit a first cousin we had not seen for several years and it was great to re-connect with her. She is the only one in our father’s family who has had the interest, time and intelligence to research the genealogical roots of that side of our family and that fact, in itself, gave us a great deal to talk about.

Musing on family ties, particularly around Memorial Day weekend, brings bittersweet memories of dearly beloved family members who have passed from this existence to a new and better one. The bitter part of bitter-sweet is selfish on my part as those loved ones have left a hole in my heart and life. But the sweet part of bitter-sweet is knowing that each one of these much loved family members are no longer suffering any physical pain or mental heartaches now. And as the greatest bonus, they are all in the presence of Jesus, a wondrous joy that we, who are still living in our “earth-suits” can only catch a glimpse, occasionally.

Family ties get even better if you happen to be a follower of Christ. The family circle is increased exponentially when you make the decision to put Christ in the center of your life. Not only do you immediately have a Savior, a Lover of your soul and a sin-load Bearer, but you have brothers and sisters who have made that same decision. Brothers and sisters you can reach out and touch literally as well as brothers and sisters all over planet Earth.

Discounting familial apron strings—family connections can be awesome. I know not everyone has been as blessed as I have been with “blood-kin” but the family of God just can’t be beat—and all a person needs to do is ask for that gift. Thank You, Lord!

What Is Your Brand?

This question seems particularly appropriate to those of us living in the Western states, but I’m not referring to the brand a rancher uses to identify his cattle. This past weekend I was able to attend a webinar in Boise sponsored by the Idahope Writers group with author, James Rubert as presenter. What he had to say was, of course, targeted toward Christian writers, but would be useful in the life of anyone listening to him.

In essence, your brand is your passion. What are you about? What makes you tick? What is your motivation in life? Your brand is YOU. What do you see when you look at or think of yourself? Or have you ever taken time to do that?

The idea of “brand” transitioned smoothly into Rubert’s next major section on Identity. Using the example of a person sitting inside a Dasani bottle of water, that person would have difficulty reading all the information on the label (or course, I would have trouble reading the small print if I was reading the label from the outsideJ 

Unfortunately, we have picked up all sorts of “labels” during our lifetime, some of them negative and untrue. Satan, the originator of lies ,and of course fear, is tied closely to untruths about who we really are. We were referred to a great spiritual/mental health verse in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.”

I have a personal favor to ask anyone who reads this and has the time to reply. Would you describe in one word or a short phrase what comes to mind when you think of me? This does not have to be “spiritual” and hopefully, it will be positive, but if not, lay it out thereJ (This was a challenge we were given and instead of e-mailing several people, I’ll be brave or foolhardy and just ask right here.)

Moving on with “identity”—believers must remember our validation comes ultimately from Christ. If we try to be validated in other ways, i.e., career, financial security, toys we can buy, beauty, etc., that validation will fail to be fulfilling.

The final take-away for this post is to BE who you were meant to be. BE who God created you to be. Then the integrity of your brand will always stand firm because your foundation cannot be swayed.