I Love the Real of It All!
Posted: Friday, May 15, 2009
by Jean Purcell
OpineBooks.com
It was not easy for our "away" daughter to be away when her grandmother, Helen, from Florida came to live with my husband, our younger daughter, and me in Maryland. From Boston, our first-born would call and check in on us, with a tone of longing in her voice. She wanted to be with us and see what it was like with the newly expanded family life.
On her first visit back home after Helen moved in with us several years ago, our Massachusetts daughter got a surprise. She had a fantasy about us that did not bear out.
On her first night home, we all sat down to dinner, as usual. We conversed, as usual.
Then, as usual, Helen went to her room to continue a book she was reading via audiotape. My husband and I went downstairs to check e-mail. We assumed that our two daughters were talking and catching up.
Well, in a way they were, but the conversation went something like this:
"What's going on here? Where is everybody?"
"Well, Grandma likes to go back to her books after supper."
"What about Mom and Dad? Do they always go downstairs?"
"Sometimes now. Sometimes they stay up here after supper, and we watch the news."
Later, my beloved first-born said, "Mom, I pictured all of you like the Waltons, sitting around the dinner table for a very long time, chatting and discussing lots of interesting things. I didn't know you were like this."
I felt bad at first, for I realized that in assuming that she was with her sister, I did not realize that she had not been able to live within her dream of our family at dinner.
Now, we are more adjusted both to Helen being here and to each other's after-dinner habits, but I remember, a bit painfully, that maybe we had not fully anticipated the needs of the one living away from home, that first time.
Our oldest had a good fantasy view of life at home in the extended family. When it comes to Christians, some people have a harmful fantasy view, and it can hinder their getting to know Christ for themselves.
Many unbelievers have pictures of Christians and their families that are way, way off. They picture families sitting together, preaching at each other, praying all the time, uninterested in anything else.
That is an unreal picture. Most Christians, alone or in families, desire to live their faith in relationships, decisions, interests, work, and every part of life. That involves living, more than talking or proclaiming. In fact, when others outside the church coined the term "Christians," they did so because "they saw the love" which Christians showed toward each other. That love included sharing everything, whether sacrificially or easily.
It was not preaching or teaching, posing with Bibles (which did not exist then) or the Torah, which was kept with the synagogues and temples. It was the early believers' lives in loving actions that caused others to call them Christians, or "of Christ."
This also tells us that those outside the church had seen Christ or had heard of Him and His ways. They knew a lot about God through His example, Jesus' life of healing love.
Many non-Christians have an inaccurate picture of what life in Christ means. In reality, life in Christ is like breathing, just like loving family life is. Yes, both faith and life have their ups and downs, since they involve humans.
Also, many who profess Christ "put on airs" of Christianity, seeking like the Pharisees to draw attention to themselves, hoping to draw more attention to Christ.
I do not think that works for long, for it is not authentic. Just as families learn more about each other through real reactions, unbelievers are called to believe in the real God, through His Son, Jesus.
Christians enjoy life! There is joy in it! Even at the worst times, we have assurances beyond measure. And the real hope of eternal life! We enjoy singing, playing board games, making bird feeders with grandchildren, going to children's ball games, and every other wholesome activity. Christian married couples that grasp the union with Christ, likened to marriage, know that physical union is a wonderful gift on earth, given by the loving heavenly Father. There is nothing to fear, avoid, or spoil about such a loving, intimate union.
Our "away" daughter is, as you may guess, always "with" us, in our hearts and by phone and e-mail. She is also visiting with us now, and is comfortable with the ebb and flow of life in our house and way of living.
Right now, she, Helen, my husband, and her sister are walking around a nearby lake, while I stay here taking a big break from the normal routine. Her little dog came with her and he is increasingly at ease with us, too.
Too soon our Boston-area daughter will return to her family back home. We will have built more memories and have prayed a few blessings over our meals. We will continue to hold each other in prayer, and in that way let God continue to unite us more and more.
I love the real of it all! And, I must admit that I picture a day when she, our son-in-law, and grandchildren might live in Maryland, too!
This Article has been viewed 172 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.