Leaving Raleigh
Tomorrow my parents will move from their home of 21+ years and from Raleigh after having spent nearly half a century here. They will leave for their beloved “vacation” home in Virginia ...the Mother of Presidents, “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Dad always said he was born two hundred years too late and he probably should have been born a Virginian. Now he gets to live there everyday…but that’s all for a different discussion.
They leave tomorrow, 3/30/07, with some uncertainty, but in willing obedience to God. They will not leave with their heads lowered, but raised high looking ahead with the knowledge that they have served God faithfully and will continue to do so as long as He shall will it. They find themselves with more questions than answers and rely solely on God’s providential hand for guidance. It is their example for my entire life that I wish to honor today and ask each of you spend a moment to do the same.
My parents have spent most of their adult lives serving others for the Glory of God…never for themselves…seeking only to be obedient servants. Their Godly example in our family is that for which I am most grateful. They taught me to love from the very beginning and diligently led me through life to love and cherish the Lord Jesus as Savior and Deliverer from my sins. They taught me to rely solely on Jesus for strength, guidance, and direction. They taught me principles, developed character, showed me right from wrong and never stopped praying for me. My mother’s diligent prayer was always for my salvation. The thing is….they are still doing all of these things today. I am so grateful to God for obedient parents. That sounds funny…it should be said the other way around. We so often emphasize the need for obedient children which is indeed God’s commandment. The failure of this world is to skip the lessons of the multi-generational faithfulness of God. God blesses those who are obedient to His word.
“so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.” Deuteronomy 6:2
They have always taught me that Jesus is the corner stone onto which everything else must be built in life (Psalm 118:22). Jesus said that everyone who hears His words and acts on them is like a man who builds a house on a foundation on the rock. That house will survive, it cannot be shaken….it will survive. But the man who hears and fails to believe, fails to act accordingly is like the man who builds his house without any foundation. That house fails in the storm and will collapse. The destruction of it is great! That should give you pause, cause you to tremble and knees to bend.
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
“But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” Luke 6:47-49
The foundation laid by my parents was always in the Word of Jesus. Therefore, tomorrow they are leaving the physical structure that they’ve called home for a long time, but the house still stands on the Rock wherever they go...I am so grateful to God for my parents. Thanks mom and dad. I love you.
Tommy
