Thoughts

Christina’s grandmother died last Friday and her funeral was Wednesday in Oklahoma City. The Jones fam loaded up and drove from Houston to OKC Tuesday and back Wednesday. It was quite a haul, but well worth it. Being with family is always fun, even if it is for a funeral. Some thoughts from the weekend:

1. Christina’s grandmother instructed her children to use the savings she had left to pay for hotel rooms for the entire family making the trip to the funeral, and for a special meal together. That was how she wanted her life to be celebrated – by a coming together of those she loved most. If that’s not a communion analogy I don’t know what is. We come together each week as the family of those loved by God to remember Jesus. The McCarty family spent their time together laughing, sharing old pictures, telling stories, hugging, crying, catching up, all the things a family does when it comes together. I feel that sometimes we miss the point of communion when we treat it as though it’s the only time of the week we have to be alone with God. We have all week for that; communion is community, a coming together of the body of Christ. I sometimes wish we did it a little differently.

2. Christina’s dad, Mac, has now lost both parents. I spent a lot of time thinking about that the past couple of days. Obviously, he is now of the age that he no longer relied on his parents the way a young child does. He is now a husband, father, and grandfather. Nevertheless, it HAS to be a strange feeling when both parents are gone. I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt at least a twinge of uneasiness over this. I wonder what it will be like when I’m in that position. What will it be like when my children are there?

3. On the way to and from the funeral Christina read two books aloud. First we read “90 Minutes in Heaven.” Not what I expected, but it was very appropriate and reassuring as we traveled to a funeral. On the way home we read Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love.” I explained to a friend that we had been taking some small steps forward in our faith. “Crazy Love” shoved us over a cliff!!! Read it. It’s conversational in tone, much like Francis Chan’s preaching style. But it will force you to consider how you go about living out your faith. Great stuff.

4. I’ve just ordered multiple books from Amazon. Typically I only get one at a time for fear that the rest will just sit on my bookshelf, never to be opened. But I gave in and got “Jesus Wants to Save Christians” by Rob Bell, “The Great Emergence” by Phyllis Tickle, and “Same Kind of Different as Me” by Ron Hall. I wish I read faster than I do because I’m EXTREMELY excited about all these books. Any other suggestions from Blogland?

I pray you’re all having a great holiday season. It snowed in Houston yesterday. Yes, you read that right. Unfortunately we were on the road and missed it. We did pull over once so I could use the restroom and I flung a snowball at the car just to remind myself what it felt like.