Grandbaby Tour 2012

It’s slowly slipping into fall, that beautiful contemplative time of year. You know, when you can grab a cup of hazelnut or pumpkin spice coffee, sit down near a window and just enjoy the color and the quiet. And where do my thoughts go? Back to the summer. And what a whirlwind summer it was! My dear friend Val was the one that dubbed it the 2012 Grandbaby Tour. The grandbabies have certainly been coming, and coming quickly and close together for the last few years. Our oldest, turning 8 in just a few days remarked recently, “There was only two born in this round, Grammy”. Made me smile. She’s heard me refer to the cycles the babies have been born in as “rounds of four”!

The “tour” actually started in April when we made a quick trip up to Indiana to see oldest son Joshua and family; wife Christina, Gabe, Zeke and Josie. They relocated to Warsaw in late February from Utah and we could hardly wait to be able to drive to see them since we always had to fly before! It has always helped me to see where the kids are, where they live, learn about the area they are in, their ministry. It helps me feel more connected when we talk or see pictures. Did I say kids??? Is that typical?? Josh is 31 now with 3 children; Daniel is 30 with 4 children; Aaron is 28 with 4 children; and Seth is 26 with 3 children…yep, my kids. I guess they will always be “the boys” to me, or “the kids” which includes their beautiful wives. My four wonderful sons and their precious families; I’m so grateful. And now all these grandchildren! They make life so full and fun! As full and fun as it was, and continues to be for that matter, to be mom, it is multiplied over and over with the addition of grandchildren!

At the end of May and early June, once Jordan finished the school year, we headed to Texas to see Aaron and Martha and fam, Elisha, Arya, Emma, and the newest born early May, Adley Renee’. Jordan is the 16 year old “daughter” that has come into our home and hearts as part of the family now. The ‘tour’ was also an opportunity for her to get to know ‘the brothers’ and rest of the family better. She did much of the driving too and saw parts of the country she has never seen. It was a great trip. It was also the first time seeing where Aaron and Martha are now living and ministering. Whew! is Dallas a big and busy city! Although they live in Plano, their church is in south Dallas. We rode the commuter train into Dallas to the zoo…we love zoos!! After a super visit…always too short…we left for home, but decided to do so via Atlanta for a quick overnight stop with Seth and Rebecca. Coming into west Atlanta from interstate 20 was so beautiful! And Jordan was able to chalk up even more states traveled through.

In July it was back up to Indiana, this time for the installation service for Josh as the new pastor of Community Bible Church. Not only did Jordan make this trip, but we took Makenzie and Elijah with us, the two oldest grandchildren and Grandma Harding came along too. In Utah when Dan and Steph still lived there and ministered together with Josh and Christina, the cousins were practically inseparable. So it was priceless to see the looks on Gabe and Zeke’s faces when they saw their cousins! And they had quite the adventure in “the cat barn”…another story for another time. It ended with everyone needing a shower and having to wash their clothes, including Poppy once they were found. I’ll leave you to imagine! Then there was story time with Grammy to learn a valuable lesson.

The ‘tour’ ended with a trip to Atlanta at the end of August to be with Seth and Rebecca after the birth of their third, another little girl Evelyn Josephine. Isn’t that beautiful? You should hear big brother Ephraim say it; “This is my new baby sister Evelyn Josephine.” Side note: the daughter-in-laws middle names have been used with each other’s daughters, and I think it’s the coolest thing! Maybe because it is a blessing to my heart to know the sister-in-laws love each other and enjoy spending time with each other so much. Rare and sweet! Rog left me for a week to help with Ephraim and Ellie while Rebecca recovered. My what a special time. What a joy to be able to be able to help my kids.

Well, coffee is gone. The afternoon has slipped away. My thoughts turn to autumn and how quickly it is approaching. It was just a year ago in October that our family was all together here at home in West Virginia. All the great-grands were even able to be here. The house was bursting at the seams! I don’t know when we’ll be able to make another ‘Tour’, or when we’ll even all be able to be together again. And I’m ok with that because I treasure the times we do have and have memories stored to hold onto. In the meantime, there are cell phones and picture texting and Skype and Facebook…thank God for technology!!

I’m ready to welcome another fall in all of its glory.

You Can Do It!!

“If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15-16). A call to love, or a call to obedience? It is both. And it is possible. But I can no longer count the number of times I have heard the following responses and others similar:

“You don’t understand. I just can’t do that.” forgive, be kind, study harder
“It’s too much to ask. God doesn’t really expect that does He? Not today at least. Maybe in Bible times, but that just doesn’t apply today.” stay pure, give of self and finances
“It was just a little white lie, no harm was done. Besides, it was for a good cause” be honest, have integrity
“But I think God understands how much I wanted this, how much I needed it.” avoid debt, be patient, be content
“Oh they’ll grow out of it. It’s just a phase. but it’s so cute at this age! It’s just not right to make them do something they don’t want to do.” discipline children, teach and train for godly character, set boundaries


I could go on. If there is an issue we deal with today the Scripture addresses it. God has a way for things to be handled. He knows the outcome of the right (righteous) response to His Word. Is obedience too much to ask of His children when He has done so much for us? And it is for our good always. His call to obedience is with our best interest in mind, because He loves us, not because He is a tyrant that enjoys having his subjects in paltry servitude.

Now, about a call to love. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” This raises a few questions. Can we keep His commandments apart from loving Him? If I don’t keep His commandments, does this mean I don’t truly love Him, or love Him as I should? This verse infers that our love for Christ is questionable at the least. We see in Revelation 2: 1-6 that it is possible to be doing right things but our love and devotion to our Savior not be all it could or should be.

Our love is fickle; it is weak; it is often merely emotional. And, it is dependent on Him who is Love. I John 4:10 says that we love Him because He first loved us. The more important fact is that Christ loves us. God loves us enough to not leave us in the wretched condition He first finds us in. And a life without Christ, at its very best, is still wretched with eternity in view. Embracing His love and growing in an understanding of His love for us enables us to love Him in return. In so doing, we find a desire to obey that can grow strong.

When it does not seem possible to obey as the Lord would have us to, no matter what the situation or issue, we can be confident He has already made a way for us to do what He has asked. Immediately after Jesus speaks to his disciples and says “If you love me, keep my commandments”, He continues saying,
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14: 16-17).

After walking with His disciples for three years Jesus knew they would question their ability to love Him…consider Peter and his denial of Christ, then Jesus in John 21 penetrating Peter’s heart with the simple question, “Do you love me?” They would need His power to love and obey. And He sent it in the work and person of the Holy Spirit to live in us, just as He promised. In I Corinthians 3:16, “don’t you realize the Spirit of God lives in you?” (my paraphrase) And again in Romans 8:9, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”. If we belong to Christ then the Holy Spirit dwells in us and longs to empower us to obey.

Consider this: if a bill needs to be paid and the money is in the bank to be used to pay it, but we say we cannot, we either deny or ignore the resources available to us. Or, we do not expend the effort or do what is necessary to have the funds applied. In the same way, there is first the choice to obey, then the effort or process of actually following through.

The choice? “By God’s grace, I will obey.”
The effort? Pray; seek accountability, encouragement or counsel; read His Word; set aside time for worship and service; avoid situations that make it easier to disobey.

If we love Him we are to keep His commandments. Not keeping them is to communicate otherwise. We can fool ourselves, we can fool others, but God is not fooled. And it is the relationship with Him that is most important. We can obey more, and we can love Him always. And we have all the Help we need to do so.