I am so fortunate & blessed to be surrounded by good people.  And when I say good, I mean Godly folks.  I come from a family full of Christians.  My church family is wonderful, as well.  It is such a great feeling to know my blood kin are related to me through Christ, too.  My Sunday School teacher made such a terrific point Sunday about our relationship with Jesus.  He posed the question,

“Ain’t it wonderful to be blood kin to Christ?”

He went on to say that we are made “kin” to Jesus through His blood that He shed on the cross.  We come into contact with that blood through baptism.  I always knew that, but it was a nice warm fuzzy reminder that Christ is my blood kin.

Matthew 26:28 (NKJV)  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Acts 2:38 (NKJV) “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost“

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

 

In the South, we take kinfolk pretty seriously.  We take care of our own.  We love our own.  We are proud of our own.  We are loyal to our own.  It doesn’t matter if one of our relatives is a little off or strange.  We just shake our heads & say bless their heart.

I remember very well the Sundays growing up.  My Daddy was the preacher.  So, we got up & went to church every Sunday.  We worshipped with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins.  We ate Sunday dinner, that my Mamaw fixed, every Sunday.   She cooked fried chicken every Sunday.  Her table was full of peas, potatoes, slaw, casseroles, deviled eggs, homemade pickles, cornbread & whatever else this sweet lady came up with.  She always made a cake, a cobbler, or some sort of delicious dessert type dish.  It did not matter what you had going on.  If you weren’t there for Sunday dinner, well, let’s just say she did NOT understand.  Also, she made such a big dinner so that if a visitor showed up at church, she could invite them over.  My Mamaw was just awesome like that.

Blood kin means a lot to me.  That’s where I feel safe & secure. My Mamaw’s brother, my great uncle would hug us kids up, every Sunday.  He would say,

“Ya’ll my kinfolks.”

As I get older, I love knowing about my ancestors & where I came from.  I have pictures of my great grandparents hanging in my house.  I look into their eyes & there I see who I am.  It’s an interesting thing to know what you are made of.  From a religious standpoint, I am made up of my blood kin- Jesus.  I love that!  I just want others to see less of me, in me, & more of Jesus.  That’s the kind of resemblance I want to have.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today.  Thank ya’ll for always listening to me & what I think.  The weather has turned back off H-O-T.  It rained & stormed some this weekend.  Since then, it’s been so muggy.  I think we are making up for the nice weather we got in July.  Ne’er a summer passes in Mississippi without hot, humid, can’t let the kids out outside to play kind of weather.  Before I go, Miss Neenee came home & asked could she be in the chess club at school.  Since she does not actively play chess, I asked the crazy question,

“What made you interested in the chess club?”

She matter of factly replied, “Well, that’s the only club they have for us.”

Oh well, then.  Looks like we will be learning to play chess.  Until then, I will be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits:writtenreality.com, pinterest

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