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I think it’s fun to finger through tiles and make words when I play Bananagrams. I like to look through people’s cast-offs at garage sales and antique stores. And, when I read or do research, and when I am out of town, I like to look for families doing things well.

On Friday at the Midwest Parent Educators conference in Kansas City, a couple came to our booth. As we got to know one another, they and Ray and I were amazed at how much we had in common. Before long, it felt almost as if we were looking in a mirror and seeing our own reflection! They invited us to worship with them and their church on Sunday morning. We enjoyed that so much.

In front of us were two parents and five children–four boys and a girl. I enjoyed watching the affection between the mother and daughter. It was especially sweet because the girl seemed older than most girls who have that kind of interaction with their mothers during church.

As I thought about it later in the day, I remembered a comment made to me many years ago by a friend who was a retired school guidance counselor. She noticed the affection between our Bethany and me during church and told me she was happy to see it. She went on to say that when she was raising her own daughter in the 1940s, mothers were advised not to be affectionate with their daughters in the early elementary grades because it might affect their sexual orientation (for crying out loud!!). May I just say, “Good grief? I think the “experts” had that exactly backwards!”

A couple of rows up were another mother and daughter. Their smiles and gentle touches made it obvious that they took great delight in one another. When time came for the public reading of God’s word, a youngster about ten or eleven years old went to the pulpit and climbed onto a step stool, so he could be seen over the pulpit. He read beautifully and then I watched joyfully as he went to sit with that mother and daughter. Obviously she was doing a good job with both those children.

After church, Ray and I had a great time at the fabulous Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where we walked through a history of art from many years before Jesus’ birth and into the nineteenth century. I hope you get to visit there someday. Their collection is phenomenal.

We would have liked to have stayed much longer, but we hurried over to see the National World War I Memorial and Museum nearby. What a treasure that was. Among the many exhibits that stood out to me was one donated recently. It was a collection of envelopes sent to a World War I soldier by members of his family. The soldier’s father was a talented professional artist who drew pictures on each envelope before they were mailed to the soldier, first in Texas . . .

World War I envelopes cropped 1

. . . and later in France.

World War I envelopes 2

World War I envelopes 3

God knows how much family love means to us. After all, one way He tells us He loves us is by calling Himself our Father and us His children.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He met Mary Magdalene near the tomb. He gave her a message for His disciples. He said:

Go to My brethren and say to them,
“I ascend to My Father and your Father,
and My God and your God.”
John 20:17

 

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One comment

  1. Wow! We were at the WWI museum on Wednesday, delivering some t-shirts my husband designed! We only had a short time to see the museum but were impressed and have been recommending it to homeschool friends in Colorado.

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