Posted: 11/14/03
DOWN HOME:
Affirming words bless the family
We didn't eat any pot-luck dinners, but this year's Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Lubbock felt a lot like a family reunion.
If your extended family is like ours, you usually only get together for weddings and funerals. We had neither in Lubbock. But the vote to affirm the BGCT's partnership with Mexican Baptists felt a lot like a wedding. And the memorials committee's lovely report helped us give thanks for the lives of dear sisters and brothers who went home to be with the Lord this past year.
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| MARV KNOX Editor |
A change in format set the tone for this year's BGCT get-together. The planning committee replaced hours and hours and hours of business sessions with four workshop sessions, where participants learned more about missions, ministries and issues facing Baptists in Texas. Of course, we still conducted business, but we had time to learn from each other.
One of the side benefits of the change was it pushed us out of the huge meeting hall into the hallways and smaller rooms. Instead of sitting in a mass of 3,000, we bumped into each other (sometimes literally) in the exhibit areas and meeting rooms. We had much more time to get acquainted or reacquainted.
But what most reminded me of family reunions was that I kept hearing phrases I've heard at family reunions all my life. These were words said to me but also words I overheard said to others:
“I love you.”
“I'm praying for you.”
“You're doing a great job.”
These are heart-healing words, soul-strengthening words, God-given words.
Everybody needs to know they're loved. Some folks might think you can say, “I love you” too much, but I don't see how. I want my wife and kids and family and friends to know the one thing about me that will endure to the end is my love for them. My life has been enriched by friends who call to catch up and remind me they love me.
Everybody needs prayer. God the Father planned it, Jesus promoted it and we're supposed to practice it. One of the great constants of my life has been the daily prayer of my parents. Just knowing Mother and Daddy have prayed for me has pulled me through many days. And when Texas Baptists, some I've never even met, stop to say they're praying for me –well, that's an indescribable blessing.
Everybody needs encouragement. It's almost like a parallel prayer. Instead of talking to God about each other, we talk in the same way to each other. Words of affirmation bind up emotional wounds and lift the spirit.
Do your family, friends and Christian sisters and brothers know you love them, pray for them, believe in them? What you say can bless their lives.
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