Memories are wonderful and sad…joyful and tragic. Memories travel the whole spectrum of emotion. There is one memory I love. It brings me joy.

My mother’s family was large. She had 3 siblings and between them there were 11 of us grandchildren. When the grandchildren began to date and marry the numbers really took off. I know there are larger families, but to us we felt like a “tribe”. 

Christmas was one time of the year when everyone showed up. We would gather at my Aunt Lula’s house. I thought it was beautiful. It was huge. My great-grandfather had built it. There were two stories, a wide front porch, and rooms were large. The ceilings were high and there were fireplaces in almost every room. Aunt Lula was a great cook so the kitchen was full of delicious smells. When my Mama and aunts showed up at Christmas with their good food to put with Aunt Lula’s, all discipline was thrown away and we tried everything…or at least I tried to.

We would all gather in the living room around the tree. Mainly the gifts were for our grandparents. The tree was always beautiful to me. It seemed like a wonderful family.

Now, we weren’t perfect by any means. Our shortcomings were plenty enough. But gathering in that beautiful house was special.

When Baxter and I began to date, he came to the family holiday. It was loud. Almost everyone was talking at the same time. Children laughing. Smiles on our faces. I’m not sure what I thought, or if I even did think. I just asked him to go with us. And bless him, he did.

In summer, Mama would invite her siblings and their families to go to our river house, sleep over, and usually it was on July 4th. Again there was so much food. And so many people. One July 4th, there were so many of us, folks were sleeping on folding lounge chairs, couches, and even on a float on the picnic table! My Uncle Jack had a place at the river also. Those cousins would come down and we would play till exhausted. Oh, those happy summer days…

Which brings me to a most precious memory. Not long after we were married, Baxter said, “When I married you, I married me a family.” I remember thinking, “Yes, you did.” And that is how it was in those days. When you married a family member, that family took you as their own. It blessed me to think Baxter had combined his family with mine. One large family.

In a Bible Study recently, the teacher was explaining the culture of the early Christians. They were very communal. They ate together, prayed together, fasted together…They saw themselves as a family group. The teacher explained that the early Christians saw belief in Yeshua as Messiah as the The Faith. They saw themselves saved by faith into The Faith. They saw themselves truly as those “living stones being built into a house”.

In this Western world we live in, we tend to see our faith as just our own. Being a part of the Body of Believers is secondary. Now I have always loved our “git er done”, rugged individualism, and stand-strong attitude. But has that hindered us as Believers? Maybe. I’m not bashing those concepts. Just suggesting that perhaps, we could stop to consider that as Believers, we are stronger together. Carrying one another’s burdens…praying for one another…helping one another…living the life He intends us to live…together as His Body.

Just food for thought.