A Silver Anniversary

This past weekend, we celebrated 25 years of Patti and Mike. It was also a celebration of 25 years of Patti, Mike, Tara, and Chatham. Family and friends gathered at Caswell Beach from all accross the US: from Wisconsin, to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. They traveled near and far to gather for the celebration at Oak Island Golf Club on Caswell. Even the cake traveled for the occasion: Momo brought it from Edible Art in Raleigh.
It was a wonderful weekend for catching up with family and friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in years. It reminded me of how great God has been to our family; how he blesses us through relationships with other believers and how he reaches out to us, often in our most needful times, with people who care for us. For my mom, two of those people were Marshall and Jean Jackson. My mom had a very difficult childhood and was pretty much passed around from home to home to live with grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and others. She was smart enough and hard-working enough (and, truth be told, stubborn enough) to get herself into a first class college. When she was at the University of Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, who have no blood relation to our family, would drive from Virginia Beach to Charlottesville to pick Mom up for holidays. This was where she went "home" to from college.
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson had a profound influence on my mom. God used them in her life to show her unconditional love and to comfort her in what was a difficult time. It was so sweet to have them at the party to celebrate with us.
Also there were Coke Man Davis and Pam and Butch Richardson. They are part of the family, outside my own, who has had the most influence on my life. Our dear Shir-shee passed away two years ago this past April 29th but her spirit lives on. She was a living Proverbs 31 and she had an impact on my spiritual life that no one else, outside of God, has had.
There are so many others who were there, including the wonderful family that mom and I "married into", the Fralixes and the Martins, our adopted "Momo", the Monahans, the Bolts, Uncle Barry and Alexis, and others who have meant so much to our little "step"family. What a blessing you all are!

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to the completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6.