Remember!

Kathy and I are blessed to still have family living close by.  Three of our four parents are alive and frankly doing quite well.  We were blessed to visit them this past Sunday night and Monday over the Labor Day holiday.  To be sure, they are aging, but they have remarkable strength and wisdom.  It is a blessing for us to visit them, and our youngest daughter certainly loves to see her grandparents as well. 

While we were in Northern New York, as usual, it is a time for me of remembering who I am and where I came from.  I think that is important.  We moved to the house where my mother still lives when I was 15.  There are many memories there and many more in the surrounding areas.  I drove by the church in Brushton where I served as pastor for six years prior to coming to Northside.  I drove by the house that had been our home during that time, and where we brought David home as a baby and Charity home as a baby (#2, and #3 in our family). 

Today, I realized I have lived as long in Liverpool as birth to graduation from high school.  Wow.  That is mind-boggling for me.  But there are always important moments where to keep the fire burning, you have to remember where it began, and where it continued.  It was up in that north country, where I first gave my heart to Jesus.  It was there my faith and life was rooted, grounded, and grew.  I witnessed it in my Dad, and still see it in my Mom, my in-laws, and extended family and friends.

There is a scene in the movie Mighty Ducks where the coach talks to the players on the hockey team about where they came from.  One by one the players say their name and where they are from.  It had meaning for them.  It reminds them of where they came from, and how they got to where they are.  So, for me, I’m Bruce Aubrey, from Burke, New York.  It’s who I am, and it’s where I’m from.  However, it’s even more important to remember who you are in Christ.  Bruce Aubrey, child of God.  I could never be more grateful for anything than that.  Thank you, Jesus!  Remember!