Tale Of The Tape

We had a wonderful service this morning. All three parts of our congregation met together as we do several times per year and we praised the Lord in Chinese/Spanish/English. The occasion for the joint service was not only to worship but also to honor our high school seniors who will be moving into the very real world very shortly. Each was introduced to the church, presented with a Bible, and greeted by our elders. As we concluded the service and prepared to go to our gym for a BIG potluck lunch, all the parents of the grads were invited to come to the front to be with their children. It was a watershed moment in the life of these families. Below, from December 23, 2008, is the story of a watershed moment of the Hawleys.

Last night, we all ate supper together at Scott and Karen's house. Before we sat down to eat, Scott put in a video recorded in St. Louis on December 22, 2001 or seven years ago to the day, even almost to the minute. The occasion in the early part of the decade was the celebration of Mom's birthday, four days late when we all arrived in Missouri. Around the table were Mom, Dad, Dave, Sally, Zach, Meagan, Ben, Scott, Karen, Karis, Seth, Nathan....and me. Mom was still fully aware and was the star of the tape. There were several memorable moments. One was when Meagan accused her grandmother of wearing a scandalous blue dress for the folks' Golden Anniversary celebration. Mom confessed she'd never been mentioned in the same breath as scandalous before. And someone asked Dad what he wanted to say about Mom as we remembered her entry onto the world scene. Dad told us how extremely fortunate he was that Nelda had married him and how he realized it more as time went by. He was right. And as we watched, we laughed at the change in Nathan's voice in the past seven years- and we laughed at ourselves

The crowd around the table was reduced by four last night: Zach is in Oklahoma with Haley and Bennett, Seth is in Alaska with Lauren waiting on his deployment to Afghanistan, Mom is two miles away in the nursing home, and Dad is with the Lord. Meagans' Zambian adventure was the chief topic of conversation as we feasted on Karen's meatloaf, ramen salad, mashed potatoes, and peppermint-chocolate cake. There was something missing but we had the memories as well as the promise of the future working in the Kingdom of God. Mom and Dad weren't there physically but we just as well could have had plates set for them at the table. It isn't just in the DNA. Their fingerprints are all over our lives.

Applicable quote of the day:
"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."

Erma Bombeck

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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