Family tree

Over the last two days I've had the privilege of hanging out with people from the older generation. Just spending time with these guys, hearing their stories and drinking their tea has both encouraged and inspired me. I love the pace in which they live life. Each day is important to them, so they make sure they live it to the full. Now to the younger folk, that may look limited, but they really do push themselves. I also love the openness in which this generation has when sharing. They know the value of verbal communication (see previous post entitled FaceSpace).

Yesterday we spent some time at a couples house who are both in their 80's who have a lot of experience in praying for healing and have some great stories to tell. It was amazing to meet a couple who after years of serving and giving, were still so in love with Jesus and wanting to serve others. It really was amazing.

But the thing that really got me thinking was when they talked about how their greatest joy in life was to have children who grew up loving Jesus, who in turn had children, who in turn had children. 4 generations knowing and loving Jesus.

This set the daydreaming part of my brain (which is most of it) off on a walk!

I started thinking about how amazing family is (again) and the importance of passing down the story. By this I mean the story of God. We see in the Old Testament, that a nation was formed as the story and blessing was passed through the generations. The Israelites would set up monuments to physically remind them of what God had done. They celebrated festivals. They had laws. All of this was done to remind them of how good God is, not just for their own benefit, but for those that would come after them. When the story was not passed on, the people forgot about God and usually found themselves in a lot of trouble.

This leaves us with a challenge. Are we passing on the story? Are we telling others about how good God is? Are we setting up monuments to remind ourselves and others? How are we communicating the story? In an age that has forgotten God, we have a responsibility to remind them of who He is and what He has done.

The other thing that blew my mind was the thought that somewhere in my family history, somebody made a decision to follow Jesus. I have been fortunate enough to be born into a family that knows and loves Jesus. My parents, my Grandparents, but somewhere along the line someone made a decision. Someone stepped out in faith and shared the Gospel with that relative and in that moment, my life was affected. How crazy is that?

Who knows what will happen when we just obey God?

Our decisions affect not just ourselves, but the generations to come. We need to start thinking outside of ourselves. It's not all about us and now! We are part of something much bigger that we will never fully understand this side of heaven. This is why it's important to obey God when He speaks.

Off the back of these ramblings, I've decided to do a little research into my family tree.

Maybe it's something you'd like to do too?

Summer Colds

How annoying are they? I have one at the moment and I just find it very confusing. How can I have a cold when it's warm outside? How do you treat a summer cold? Wrap up warm? I don't think so! Maybe rest is the answer?

Does sunbathing count?

FaceSpace

After months of constant and prolific peer pressure as well as a curiosity that would have killed a whole alley of cats, I have become a member of the unstoppable phenomenon that is facebook. Having already been a part of myspace for a while, I am some what used to this quite surreal world of friendship.

It has many benefits.

I can keep in contact with friends from all over the world. This gives me a chance to see how they're doing, encourage them and steal their photo's!!!

But I also have concerns.

When does it become a security thing? My identity? An ego trip ('How many friends have you got?')? An escape? What is the point where we lose touch with reality? With those around us? When the time spent on myspace/facebook replaces time spent with family/housemates/neighbours then I don't feel it's healthy. If it eats into our time with God, then it becomes serious. It can take the form of an idol.

Is it even true friendship?

For me, friendship requires sacrifice. Syber friendships provide a safe, easy way to keep in contact that means we can hide behind our screens and let people know what we want them to know because that's all they'll know.

So what am I rambling on about??? Well, I just feel that we should enjoy and use these means of communication, but not forget those around us!!! That we should really think about what friendship is and make sure we live it out.

Here's a challenge.

For those of you on facebook/myspace, try fasting it for a week (or even a month) and make an effort to get to know your neighbours, work colleges, shop owners. Learn their names, invite them to your house for dinner. Love them!

Let me know what happens!