FAMILY OF GOD

"And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God." Acts 16: 31-34

"You boys get out of here, right now," Grandma Kime scolded as she chased her son and some neighbor boys out of the basement and batted at their heals with her broom all the way up the steps.

"Ma, we just tasted a little of it," her son pleaded.

"You wait until your daddy gets home Friday night and he finds out you three were into the communion grape juice." Then her voice hushed to a whisper. "And I know you could taste that it had fermented!"

"That just makes it wine, Ma. Jesus drank wine," the boy snickered as he tried to get out of the way of the straw broom.

"Don’t you dare say things about the Lord, Young Man," she demanded as she swiped at the calves of his legs some more."Besides, Christ’s wine was not stored in my Ball canning jars, Mister," the little four foot, ten and a half inch tall mother of three boys and two girls insisted.

To her son, she said, "You have to weed the garden all by yourself tomorrow. Let that be a lesson to you."

Sure enough, Pa got home from five-days work on the New York Central Rail Road and Ma had the children all lined up, clean and polished in the best clothes she could make in 1922. Family was everything. Hard work and a pint of homemade wine didn’t change that.

"Well Ma, how were they this week," Pa would say as he passed in front of the children like a general inspecting his troops.

"They were just fine Pa," Ma would say and Pa would drop a quarter into each outstretched hand. And, they had been fine. The young wine-taster had spent hours in the acre-garden in the hot sun as he chased out every non-vegetable that grew there and had learned a lesson. Don’t cross Ma.

Pernniah Kime was like Christiana in Length of Days - The Age of Silence. Family was her life. Grandma Kime had her parents down the road, five children and a husband who worked hard.

Where has the family gone in 2012? Not only do they not eat their dinner around the family table, many homes don’t even own a table. If God will save all those in the home through the faith of one member, can’t you see the importance of living in the original community, the family? Let us pray.

"Holy Father of us all, we give reverence to your name as head of our family. May it be possible that your plan for family come alive in mine. I pray for all families because I know they are in pain. No one can hurt a family more than the ones they love. I see your children weeping for a family that will never be again and it breaks my heart. I ask this day, that you rain down love on your children and refresh their souls with the sweetness of your shower. Turn their hearts from the things of the world—a larger home, a faster car—and back to you, oh God. Forgive me when I have been impatient and unloving with my family. Wrap them in your love, Dear Lord and lead me away from whatever robs my family of your love. In the name of your son, Jesus, I pray. Amen."

Doris
"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine." Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

Read more about Grandma and Grandpa Kime at http://www.lengthofdays2112.blogspot.com, second from top.
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