40 Years of Faith, Family and Friends

Another big event this summer was celebrating my parent's 40th Anniversary. We did some celebrating with the whole family out in Seattle, and then Peter and I helped host an open house in Rochester with lots of old and new friends in attendance. It all came together great and was a blast!

It was very cool to see people from my childhood gather and share in the celebration of the values my parents have always worked to embody. I was reminded of those things that most define them, as I thought about what it meant for my parents to reach this forty year milestone. My mom and dad are not perfect - of course no family is - but from the start of their relationship, they centered their relationship on faith, family and friendships. FAITH: They were part of underground Bible studies in college, were fresh-faced evangelists to friends and family members, and knew they were called to be in ministry in the church and to love and serve others. From the beginning, they anchored their relationship and our family's foundation to God and to a local church. That is a big reason that today, I still consider many Salem Rd folks like my extended family; they've known me longer and better then anyone else, and they have always been there and stepped into my life and my story.  FAMILY: Even before they were married, they knew they wanted two kids, and they had names picked out for a girl (Elizabeth Margaret) and a boy (Timothy David).  It is funny to me, now after becoming a parent and naming our firstborn, to think back to when my parents were this age, to realize that they once had kids at this age and that they gave me and my brother our names and the start to our stories. Sometimes I forget that they were at this stage too, that they weren't always "adult parents of adult children." FRIENDS:  From as far back as I can remember, we had people in our house and went to visit and eat with friends at their houses. My parents worked to be hospitable, generous, and welcoming friends, and I remember often heading home from church with a new family who visited following us for a beef roast meal, or dropping off homemade jam/crisp/bread to someone during the week. Even without a lot of financial cushion, my parents valued helping and giving to those with less, which I think has always stuck with me as part of how we live like Christ and love our friends and neighbors. 

Celebrating with my mom and dad on that humid summer day in Minnesota, I felt so much gratitude. I felt the sweetness of remembering the good and the faithful things that my parents and their community had done so well for forty years. I felt the joy of watching children and grandchildren grow and move forward, of the generational movement that my mom and dad have helped advance. And I felt the peace that comes whenever I acknowledge that God is always good, and working for good, in those who love Him and follow Him; and whether it is forty years, or forty minutes, we each have the opportunity to keep learning and relearning how to follow, and love, and be loved by, such a good and gracious God. What a gift! What a thing to celebrate! So thanks mom and dad for giving me so much good in my story.  Thanks be to God.