Family

This weekend is going to be interesting. Let me start by giving a little family background. My mom is the oldest of four kids: my aunt from Houston, my uncle the principal of Pittsford schools and my uncle from Lake Odessa. The aunt from Houston rolls into town tonight for a couple of weeks. Now, I love my aunt. She is a lot of fun and a good person to talk to. However, my family has this thing about…spirituality. They like to say “you can’t put God in a box.” Now, I’m not exactly sure what that means but it gives them an excuse to put their faith into spirits, afterlife, witches, demons….the whole nine. I am not saying I don’t believe in evil spirits but my faith is in Christ. They tend to believe a certain precious stone or herbs can ward off these spirits. I know the Holy Spirit kicks butt if you will. My beliefs are Biblical. Their’s aren’t. This allows them to say I put God in a box (the Bible) and then they feel sorry for me because “I don’t get it.” See the back and forth here? Oy.

Now, since the last visit from the aunt last year, she has joined a church and become active in it. I pray God has given her some truth. I’m a little nervous to see. I’m also going to be asking her to come with me to Riv either this weekend or next. Please pray.

On another family note, my cousin leaves from Iraq tomorrow. He is the son of my mom’s youngest brother and his name is Justin Pelham. His best friend was just killed in Iraq last month. Remember the funeral in Lake Odessa where the war protestors went nuts at a soldier’s funeral and the bikers dudes put a stop to it? Yes, this is the friend of my cousin’s. And now….he goes. He’s had quite a life so far. The trailer the family lived in burnt to the ground when Justin was maybe 10 or so. Then, his mom left him in charge of his three younger siblings one day and she never came back. My uncle remarried in 1996 and his wife adopted all four kids. He’s such a sweetheart, though. He’s made bad decisions and good ones, just like the rest of us. Joining the army was the only thing that made sense to him. So now…he goes…and so does his little brother Joshua. Josh will leave for Kuwait but I’m not sure if it is tomorrow. Either way, please, if you remember to pray for my family, it would be appreciated.