Interesting title for what I'm about to share. I figured it would be a nice follow-up to Nick's post about friends. This past weekend I drove to Missouri with my two sisters and two nieces. It was an awful eight hour drive but it was the first road trip I took with my two sisters. We were caravaning in between our three uncles and their families to reunite in Springfield with the rest of the Huitt-Stillwell clan.
It was when I got to the Comfort Suites and shared the third floor of the hotel with nothing but family that I realized just how big we were. This family reunion is to be the last of it's kind. It is a sad statement based on the fact the my great-grandfather William Lee Huitt Sr. will likely be going home soon. Grandma Winnie at 90 years young will probably not be far behind. Pop and Winnie have been such a blessing to this family. If heaven were based on works than these two would fall right behind the disciples of Jesus. But in their elderly age they know what is important and it is their faith. During the reunion Winnie insisted on giving each of the great-grand children, and great-great grandchildren a special gift. She said she and Pop wanted to pass on something that meant a great deal to them. She presented each and everyone of us with a bible, leatherbound and our names imprinted on the cover.
My great Uncle Robert said that there were two outstanding characteristics about Pop and that was his humor and his humility. Then he shared a song written about this family. It is what my blog is all about. The chorus goes something like this:
Hang a spoon on your nose
Be so happy it shows
From your head to your toes
Hang a spoon on your nose.
Why a spoon? What's the big deal? It represents my family. It's not just a spoon it's a symbol of the common bond we share. It's laughing together. It's seeing that the gap between my sister's teeth is hereditary characteristic. It's sharing a pint of Ben and Jerry's with my cousin, purchased by my Dad's cousin and staying up until 1 in the morning talking about everything that comes to mind. It's learning that my love for opera is shared by a family memeber that has performed for three presidents and some astronauts in some of the finest auditoriums and houses. It's taking up an entire row at a Cardinals game. It's sharing an embrace with my dad when lonliness creeps in and the tears won't stop. It's hearing my cousin say that she is honored to carry the Huitt name. Yeah, we're a little silly but there is one thing we know. We serve God, that's a no-brainer. It's refusing to conform to those standards set in this world. That spoon represents a vow to love God and love the family. Because my Great-grandparents were faithful and obedient to God they received favor. God blessed their marriage and those blessings have spread even to the fourth generation. I can't thank them enough.
This said just think of how important it is to learn about your spiritual family. How often do we just shrug off the importance of fellowship and meeting together regularly. We are all one family united by Christ. Let's not make our first reunion in heaven. Just as my cousin said be proud to carry that family name.
Feeling down? Try hanging a spoon on your nose :-)
Love you guys.
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2 comments:
I was wondering what you were doing up in good ol MO. I brings tears to my eyes (literally) to hear about a family like yours that, despite mistakes and problems, still professes to serve God first and foremost. Your great-grandparents are living examples of what Exodus says about God visiting His favor and love down the generations of those who serve Him. Thank you for sharing this with us!
I tried hanging a spoon on my nose, it took six tries to get it right and I looked all sorts of rediculous doing it this morning. I think my little brother thought it was odd that I asked him for a spoon while staring at my laptop - trying to hang it in frustration. Haha, I think I'll leave that to the people who look good doing it like you.
That aside, I thank you for sharing this experience. You really made it seem vibrant and alive to me, and after being around your family for graduation, I have some inkling of how the reunion went and I bet it was great.
I'm just kinda reminded that a family is an image of how we are to be with each other under Christ. To walk together and be open with each other. There is no Jew or Gentile, Slave or Free, Huitt, Jon-Ubabuco or Boyer under Him. But in order to realize that we have to make ourselves open and vulnerable to each other. Kinda reminds me of the passage in Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline.
He talks specifically about how masters, husbands, and others in traditional roles of authority had been called by Christ to love those that they were over, being as servants to them. It just kinda reminded me how Christ's love goes full circle, to those we are inclinded to love and to those that we aren't inclined to. Thanks for the reminder that it starts in the family and can go outward! Haha, kinda what we are called to anyways.
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