Finding Family
So here is the deal. My family has been bitten by the blog bug. My little brother has a blog, my sister-in-law has a blog, my older brother has a band website that what has been recently added to?- a blog. My dad comes home from work today and one of the first things he asks is if any of us have visited http://cuttingitstraight.blogspot.com to see the new post that he created today. He also noted with some degree of satisfaction that he already had a comment. Blog and the Blakey family go so hand-in-hand today that I am tempted to go to baxterblog.blogspot.com to see if it does, in fact, exist.
And so today I finally succumb to the overwhelming tide of blogness that has swept over this family like the waves over the seaweed and sand castles that I used to build on the beach as a child.
This past week my family was in California for the memorial service of my late grandmother, Peggy Blakey. All of my dad's six bothers and sisters were there as well as 9 of the 11 grandchildren. As we came together, I realized that there were people there that I had never met and others whom I had not seen in over ten years. And all were a part of our extended family.
Our extended family has its quirks, as every family does, and while we all share the same last name, or personalities and lives are anything but the same. For instance, there is my Uncle Ken, the brilliant businessman who never is at a loss for words and my Uncle Don, who is quiet and brief even with he writes birthday cards. My Uncle Scott lives a simple yet meaningful life where mostly everyday runs in the same format and then there is my Uncle Ernie, who we are never really sure which continent he is on.
I had an extended conversation with Uncle Ernie in the backyard one night and the rest of the family was convinced he was recruiting me for the CIA. However, I was finding out more about what, in fact, he really does. Uncle Ernie, in my mind, may be one of the most brilliant business marketers that I have ever heard of. In graduate school over 20 years ago, he sold the idea for a few thousand dollars to blend a bookstore with a coffee shop and right now the Barnes and Noble in Valencia is nearly an exact replica of the sketch that he drew 20 years ago. When faced with the task of how to help boost airline sales, he came up with an idea of passengers earning miles on trips that could be used towards future flights which we now call the frequent flyer program. He has done work with companies such as Porshe, Jeep and Nissan and all of this I had only heard second hand until I asked him.
As I look back on my thoughts of Uncle Ernie before the trip, I remember thinking that he was probably more reserved around us because he wanted to be. After talking to him, I realized that he had held back only because nobody had really asked him.
Right now I am preparing to teach in a number of contexts, whether it be the college/career sunday school class at our church, Sunday night Children's Bible Hour or the Vacation Bible School coming in two weeks. For all of these, I need wisdom.
James 1:5-8 says, "If any among you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, for that man ought not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
I have realized that I so often will talk about God's wisdom with others or will read what God has taught other people. How often, though, do I ask the Lord to give me wisdom and believe that He will from His Word?
I received business wisdom and insight from Uncle Ernie that night as we hit whiffle balls in the backyard, how much more will I gain and be impressed by if I ask that of the Lord?
And so today I finally succumb to the overwhelming tide of blogness that has swept over this family like the waves over the seaweed and sand castles that I used to build on the beach as a child.
This past week my family was in California for the memorial service of my late grandmother, Peggy Blakey. All of my dad's six bothers and sisters were there as well as 9 of the 11 grandchildren. As we came together, I realized that there were people there that I had never met and others whom I had not seen in over ten years. And all were a part of our extended family.
Our extended family has its quirks, as every family does, and while we all share the same last name, or personalities and lives are anything but the same. For instance, there is my Uncle Ken, the brilliant businessman who never is at a loss for words and my Uncle Don, who is quiet and brief even with he writes birthday cards. My Uncle Scott lives a simple yet meaningful life where mostly everyday runs in the same format and then there is my Uncle Ernie, who we are never really sure which continent he is on.
I had an extended conversation with Uncle Ernie in the backyard one night and the rest of the family was convinced he was recruiting me for the CIA. However, I was finding out more about what, in fact, he really does. Uncle Ernie, in my mind, may be one of the most brilliant business marketers that I have ever heard of. In graduate school over 20 years ago, he sold the idea for a few thousand dollars to blend a bookstore with a coffee shop and right now the Barnes and Noble in Valencia is nearly an exact replica of the sketch that he drew 20 years ago. When faced with the task of how to help boost airline sales, he came up with an idea of passengers earning miles on trips that could be used towards future flights which we now call the frequent flyer program. He has done work with companies such as Porshe, Jeep and Nissan and all of this I had only heard second hand until I asked him.
As I look back on my thoughts of Uncle Ernie before the trip, I remember thinking that he was probably more reserved around us because he wanted to be. After talking to him, I realized that he had held back only because nobody had really asked him.
Right now I am preparing to teach in a number of contexts, whether it be the college/career sunday school class at our church, Sunday night Children's Bible Hour or the Vacation Bible School coming in two weeks. For all of these, I need wisdom.
James 1:5-8 says, "If any among you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, for that man ought not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
I have realized that I so often will talk about God's wisdom with others or will read what God has taught other people. How often, though, do I ask the Lord to give me wisdom and believe that He will from His Word?
I received business wisdom and insight from Uncle Ernie that night as we hit whiffle balls in the backyard, how much more will I gain and be impressed by if I ask that of the Lord?
posted by Bill Blakey at 2:37 PM
2 Comments:
Bill,
Welcome to the blogworld! These pictures look good on your site. I really like how you tied in the pictures of the fam with an article about it, and then how you tied in asking Uncle Ernie questions to asking the Lord for wisdom. It would seem to me that inspite of the "blog bug" that has bitten the Blakey family, you have a naturally knack for it yourself. I hope you keep posting!
Billy-
What a stirring post! I'm glad to see that you have succumbed to the blogging frenzy and I hope you will update frequently:).
I often do the same in talking about God's wisdom but not always being eager to ask for it myself. I think your words have given me a renewed perspective on how ready and willing we should be to simply ask Him believing that He is the giver of all wisdom. Thanks for the encouraging entry.
-Christa
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