Something Beautiful — Donna Evans

“Come and listen… let me tell you
what he has done for me.”
Psalm 66:16 (NIV)

Four generations of our Evans’ family gathered last week to celebrate three very important birthdays. Birdie James (7 months) is our youngest family member while Mimi, Bruce’s mom, is now in her nineties. That’s not only a great age difference; it is also a great blessing! Between them they represent a wide range of world history and a lot of change! The Great Depression, a devastating World War, nuclear bombs, computer technology, the iPhone, Space X travel, and Artificial Intelligence are just some of the ways our world has changed over the last century. Fortunately, God has not! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

The word “gather” means to come together and it is used in some form over 450 times in the Bible. God puts a high priority on gathering and he expects us to do the same. In Israel’s agrarian economy, farmers gathered their crops at harvest. The nation gathered stones to celebrate and remember God’s deliverances. Ruth gathered gleanings in Boaz’s field; kings gathered armies; and shepherds gathered sheep. God gathered Israel’s remnant after the 70-year Babylonian exile. The 12 disciples gathered the broken pieces of loaves and fishes after Jesus’ miraculous feeding the 5000. And one day all those who are united with Christ will “gather together for the great supper of God” (Revelation 19:17). Gathering allows us to lay down mile markers and memorial stones in our family lives.

But our family didn’t just gather to share a meal; we gathered to celebrate the gift of life and remember God’s good gifts. Gathering and celebrating led to gratitude as we thanked God for Mary Clayton’s sixth birthday and losing her first tooth! We rejoiced with Julia officially becoming a teenager, the Rebels making the state playoffs, and “Papa” being a year older following last year’s open-heart surgery. We also rejoiced in adding sweet Birdie James to our family. This baby girl continues to bring our family such joy after our loss and grief with James Bruce’s death.

Our birthday recipients opened good gifts while we laughed and told stories about the days that the girls were born. We feasted on Perfect Chocolate Cake, a homemade cake that melts in your mouth and is one of the girls’ favorites. James Bruce would have loved it all!

Tim Challies’ grief reflections continue to help me sort through my own emotions as I navigate the intertwined paths of both grief and joy following James Bruce’s death. Commenting on his daughter’s recent wedding, Challies writes:

But whether in graduation ceremonies or wedding celebrations, we intend to rejoice rather than weep, to celebrate rather than lament, to look forward rather than back. We believe that God calls us to enjoy his good gifts, even when our hearts have been broken. And we can do this, for one of the paradoxes of life in this world is that in our deepest sorrows we are never without joy and in our highest joys we are never without sorrows. We learn that there are times to rejoice with those who rejoice and times to weep with those who weep—and that we have no right to demand that the rejoicing weep or that the weeping rejoice.

The family is God’s Divine Design and primary vehicle for the transfer of truth one generation to the next. Living in a fallen world, life and family can often be messy, but God’s design and his good gift of family isn’t just true (Genesis 1:27-28), it’s beautiful. Children are a good gift of the Lord (Psalm 127:3). The effective transfer of truth one generation to another is always intentional and relational. Being intentional means that we get the message- Who God is and what he has done- out of our mouths. Being relational means that we earn the right to be heard.

The Psalmist Asaph’s words in Psalm 78 instruct us to teach and train our children and grandchildren across four generations: forefathers, to fathers and their children, and finally their children’s children.

We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power and the wonders he has done…
he commanded our forefathers to teach their children
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
Then put their trust in God and not forget his deeds, but keep his commands.
(Psalm 78:4-7)

The holiday season is fast approaching. Gather to celebrate and remember Who God is and what He has done. Generation to generation, there’s something beautiful in God’s gift of family.