The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

Karen was invited to speak at a ladies’ event following a banquet. The theme of the evening was “Friendship.” She often told me that it was a little bit of a dilemma for her when she was to speak at banquets. She often was so nervous that she didn’t want to eat. However, she didn’t want to offend people by not eating the food. Being the loving husband that I was, I offered to go with her, stay out of sight, eat her food for her, and then drive her home. We both laughed at my “loving offer” as she got in the car and drove off without me!

I confess. Often my family had to look for Daddy’s car keys until that day when Mommy and our children bought Daddy a surprise.

We were so constantly aware that the local church must never be cliquish. We who know Christ are all part of the wonderful family of the Lord. Each believer is of equal worth to the Lord and equally loved by Him.

We always prayed together about her invitation, her study and of course, her speaking engagement. Like I said, I do remember this one because she said, “I wonder what is going on at this particular church. They want me for a one-time ladies’ event to speak on the power of the Lord and how it applies in personal ways for women, AND I am to keep it brief!”

So many times we emphasize how short Zacchaeus was instead of how big his transformation was. Let me share some thoughts about this with you from Karen’s Notes.