Midweek Moment

Stories. We all have them. Stories about why we are the way we are, stories about why we live where we live, and stories about why we think the way we think. Stories shape our inner characteristics very deeply. In fact, God understands this, so the vast majority of Scripture is told as a narrative, or story. We live a story, we tell events that happen to us in a story format, and we understand and remember better when we hear information in story form.

This past weekend, my family and I took a trip to North Carolina. We went with my parents and my brother and his family. As my parents and brother made their way north from Tampa, we joined them when they reached Ocala, and off we all went. Our destination was my Uncle Bill's house. He is technically my dad's uncle, and he and my Aunt Bobbi live in Belmont, North Carolina, just outside of Gastonia, North Carolina, just over the South Carolina border. The purpose of our visit was to celebrate Decoration Sunday at Bear Creek Baptist Church.

Bear Creek Baptist Church is located on top of a mountain in the Blue Ridge Parkway, in a town formally known as Turby Holler. Turby Holler is where my great-grandmother, Beulah Bell, lived with my great-grandfather, Carol Wesley, (This is the man my son Wesley is named after), on land given to them by my great-great-grandfather, and Baptist pastor, Anderson Franklin. It was also here in Turby Holler, that my grandmother and her three younger brothers were all born. That particular branch of my family tree has great history, and many fantastic stories, associated with Turby Holler. And this past Sunday, Debbie and I got to hear many of them, in the Bear Creek Baptist Church cemetery.

You see, after worship, we all went outside, into the cemetery, and decorated the grave markers. We decorated and told stories. I was all ears. I wanted to know who was related to whom and how. I wanted to know who these people were and what they did for a living. I wanted to know their stories. I wanted to know...them. Debbie took pictures, I made notes, and we were both mesmerized. Even Parker was listening and asking questions. I met my great-grandfather's niece, Lorette, who was a wealth of information. Story after story, name after name, she knew them all. In fact, Lorette was also born in Turby Holler...and she has never left.

This weekend was so important for many reasons. It gave my family a chance to get together and share meals and love. It gave Debbie a chance to immerse herself in something that she loves, genealogy. It gave my children a chance to met people that helped shape their great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. But it also reminded me of the vastness of our God. I was reminded that God was loving humanity long before I walked the face of this earth, as I listened to how God worked in the lives of my family members. I was reminded that God was at work outside of Ocala, Florida and across space and time. I was reminded that God is, God was, and God always will be.

This week I encourage you, next time you look into the face of another person, look for God. Look expectantly for God's vastness and how God is at work in that person. It just might change the way you see this entire world.

Have a great week and I will see you Sunday!