A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Wednesday, April
3, 2019
The Schmidts
walked into a surprise for their 64th anniversary
celebration.
"Blest
Be The Tie That Binds"
Message
summary:
We hope each of
our readers have the
blessing of ties that
truly bind!
Podcast not
prepared for this
message
"Then the
Lord God said, 'It is
not good for the man
to be alone'" (Genesis
2:18). "God places the
lonely in families"
(Psalm 68:6).
Blest be the
tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. Yesterday our
friends, Jim and Dorothy
Schmidt, celebrated
their 64th wedding
anniversary. Last night
we took them "out" for
dinner not telling them
where, only that we
needed to make a stop at
the Old Windmill Farm
before we would later
dine together.
Jesse and Anna Lapp,
along with their seven
children are mutual
friends with the
Schmidts and secretly
"schemed" with Brooksyne
to host the Schmidts
anniversary celebration
at the Old Windmill Farm
aka the Lapp's home. We
did indeed surprise the
Schmidts and had a
wonderful time of
fellowship around the
long table and later as
we visited together in
the living room.
In the course
of life things don't
always go as we plan,
even in the life of a
believer (as you well
know!). Several
years ago Jim and
Dorothy's younger son
passed away taking a
piece of their heart
with him. Adding to
their sorrow, they now
have an estranged
relationship with their
remaining son, which
brings on grief of a
different sort. Making
emotions even more
conflicting for them is
that their son
celebrates his birthday
on the same day that Jim
and Dorothy celebrate
their wedding
anniversary.
We met the
Schmidts at a conference
in 2000 when we lived in
New England before
moving to Lancaster
County. The
Lapps became our
neighbors in early 2003
and we
introduced them to the
Schmidts ten years ago.
The three families have
a somewhat unlikely
friendship but mutually
we help meet a
relational need in each
other's lives when we're
altogether, since our
four generations are
much like that of a
family setting where
Great Grandparents,
Grandparents, Parents
and the Children gather
to eat around the table,
share together in
fellowship, and express
interest in one
another's daily lives. It's an
uplifting time to be
with those who know you
best and still love you
most (a great line in
the song, "I Am Loved"
by the Gaithers).
Throughout
Genesis 1 we have the
repeated phrase, "And
God saw that it was
good" culminating
with the phrase on the
sixth day, "God saw
all that He had made,
and behold, it was
very good". But in
Genesis 2 we observe the
first "not good" in
Scripture, "It is not
good for the man
to be alone".
Loneliness is
a universal phenomenon
that many experience in
every culture,
regardless of race,
nationality, age, or any
other factor. You can be
in a huge crowd and
still be lonely. From an
old sixties song come
these self-questioning
words, "All the lonely
people, where do they
all come from? All the
lonely people where do
they all belong?"
Another song says it
well, "One is the
loneliest number".
The word "lonely" conveys such lonesomeness and isolation. Many lonely people are not necessarily distant from other people. In fact they may very well be surrounded by people in a city, office environment, or even their own family members. Even as the planet gets more and more populated and social media offers numerous formats for communication, it seems loneliness continues to spread. Fundamentally it's because people have tried replacing the divinely appointed order of our relationship with God, family, and the fellowship of other believers with a host of artificial replacements. Even the meaning of "friend" has changed. Now people collect "friends" on social websites; people they may not even personally know or have any significant relationship with. In the beginning God and man had close fellowship and since that time many have had the wonderful assurance expressed by David in the Shepherd's Psalm, "Thou art with me". That's the greatest antidote to loneliness! Hide deeply in your heart these words of our Lord Jesus Christ, "Surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). In the beginning God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" and made a helper suitable for him and thus ordained marriage. "God places the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6). We may also refer to our church body or Christian friends as the "family of believers". Jesus defined the meaning of the spiritual family when He expressed to his biological family in Luke 8:21, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it". Right now there are people in our lives that I can easily relate to as a spiritual parent, a spiritual sibling or a spiritual child. Today I urge you to treasure and nurture your biological family ties as well as your spiritual family. However as I conclude I still consider the precious souls reading this who are lonely today. It may be that you are separated from your companion or soul-mate by death. Perhaps you've been abandoned by an unfaithful spouse, or are dealing with estranged children. I don't minimize your pain even though it is not presently my experience. Here are several considerations:
I'm so glad
I'm a part of the
family of God.
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod. For I'm part of the family, the family of God. Be encouraged
today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber We
have been to the
Old Windmill
farm twice with
friends the last
several days and
always enjoy
sharing photos.
Brooksyne
and Marsha
holding Curious
George, the two
week old
goat that will
be a farm
favorite all
summer like Daisy
was two years
ago. Little
goats are much
like little
puppies, but
even funnier.
Their fur is
still soft
instead of
coarse and
wiry, their
hooves are
still tender
not calloused,
they don't
fight but let
you hold them
like a young
puppy. (That's
Brooksyne's
description of
why she can't
resist holding
them while
they're
small.)
The
barnyard is a
favorite spot
for Old Windmill
Farm tour
guests.
Barnyard
chickens.
With
Curious George
even I enjoy
holding him!
A
gardener can
appreciate
this soil all
ready for
spring
planting.
Jesse used
"green manure"
(cover crop)
through the
winter. On
Saturday he
turned it over
into the soil.
In several
months this
will be an
impressive
garden filled
with fresh
vegetables and
colorful
flowers.
Jim
& Dorothy
cut the first
piece of cake
before we all
indulged. "Jim
& Dorothy,
64 years of
enduring love."
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
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