Family . . .

Two weeks ago, Sandy and I drove to Burnet on Wednesday. Early Friday morning we drove to West and picked up Ali and Abi and headed for La Posada to meet their Dad for the weekend. As we approached Weatherford, I asked the girls where they wanted to have lunch . . . they both declared in unison . . . “McDonald’s!”  As we identified the location I suggested to Sandy that she ought to call or text our nephew, Justin Whitsitt, and see if he could meet us. He said that he was meeting his sweet wife, Jana “at Chili’s in 20 minutes” and urged us to meet them there. We discussed it with the girls and they agreed to postpone our visit to McDonald’s for a day or two. We had a nice visit with Justin and Jana.

As we approached Snyder, my phone rang and caller-ID showed that the caller was my long-time friend and employee, Billy Hembree, who had been diagnosed as having colon cancer a few months back. He was scheduled to begin chemo and radiation on Friday.  My Sunday school class and a wide group of other Believers have been praying for Billy and Tammy. I dreaded answering the call, concerned that my friend would be pretty sick after his first treatments. I was not prepared for what I heard as my friend gushed out, “The cancer is totally gone . . . they declared me as being cancer-free!”  I have no words to express my joy . . . I love this guy like a brother (which he is)! Sandy and I both shed a few tears over this great news. There is simply no way to describe this other than to say it is a miracle and the Lord hears and responds to our prayers.

As we parked in front of the apartment, Linda Sweet left her office and came over to greet us. Soon Homero came by to do the same. In a bit, Chris arrived and had a sweet reunion with his little girls. A little later aunt Courtney arrived and Sandy prepared a lovely dinner. Afterwards, my sweet family gathered around the table and carried on a long Melton tradition . . . they played a game . . . joked, laughed, accused each other of cheating, fussed, talked loudly, and each did his best to win the game.

As I listened to my family, I thought about Billy’s great news, Linda’s heavy heart over the recent loss of her beloved husband, Rev Robert Sweet, and I thought about my sweet little sister, Dorothy, and her on-going struggle over her painful loss . . . it occurred to me how wonderfully the Lord uses family to help us . . . in both the best of times . . . and the worst of times.

It saddens me that there are those in my family (and pretty much every other family too) who are self-centered, uninterested in family, and not the least bit bashful about using others for their own gain.

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