And the Wolf Huffed and Puffed and....Nada

I signed a contract last week to build a new house here in McDonough. I’ve never had the experience of having a house built from the ground up and being able to make changes to basic house plans, pick where your cable and phone plugs go, what your countertops will be and move a closet or window from one place to another. I am fairly free to make whatever changes I want with the exception of the major structural plans.

Another change that will be occurring with this house is that it will bring my mom, brother and me under the same roof for the first time in about 30 years. Some folks have reacted with shock and disbelief that I would willingly give up the freedom of my own house and, more shock, that my family would actually want to have me under the same roof with them.

One recurring theme that we find in the Scriptures is that ‘family takes care of family.’ From birth to death and all stages in between, you find families supporting each other during the good and the difficult times, actually talking out their differences and working out the solutions. I see far too many times where a family will split up over minor disagreements and (in my opinion) over selfish reasons.

There is a time during early adulthood and marriage where it is good to have the separation, but as parents age and may have more needs, it may be time to go home again. The pioneers did this, the American Indians did this, the colonists did this, many foreign cultures do this, why have Americans stopped and tried to ignore our aging parents and loved ones? Maybe you have a rotten childhood, perhaps you had a miserable youth (sorry for my lapse into Julie Andrews), but it does not change the fact that family is family and it does not always have to be your first choice to put them away in a nursing home or some type of “center”.

We know from both Old and New Testaments that generations of families lived together and took care (i.e.; respected) the elders of the family. Unfortunately, we don’t live in biblical times or in the pioneer age, so I know there will be times of major, MAJOR adjustment as our family comes back together.

The other big change is the packing and consolidating of three houses into one. Basically, I want all my stuff; my brother wants all his stuff; and my mother wants all her stuff. When it comes to some of my possessions, I can be quite selfish and feel deserving of keeping them all. However, God has told me in His Word that He promises to take care of me, regardless of how many desktops and laptops, iPods and cameras, DVD and Xbox games I have, and so forth.

Where I live is not important, God will provide for me. What I own is not important; God will take care of my needs. Any differences between my family and myself are not important; God can heal them. And it is not just me, He promises the same for you. Read all about it in the best-selling book of all times.

And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy.