Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FAMILY VACATION (07/30/15)
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TITLE: The Historical Event | Previous Challenge Entry
By Stanley McMahon
08/05/15 -
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In spite of the constant rain some of us were able to fit in a boat ride to Devenish Island that had been settled and established by monks in the sixth century, and conquered by Vikings and resettled during the ninth century. We rubbed shoulders with history and plodded through the remains of a monastic settlement that had long since become a tourist attraction with its round tower, dating back to the twelfth century.
In the meantime the younger contingent had enjoyed a karting session, which provided plenty of bragging rights and banter among the winners and losers. This was followed by an afternoon stroll around Enniskillen, the main town in the Lakelands and an evening meal together at Lusty Beg Island, another beautiful and tranquil setting.
The main event was held on the Sunday, when we dined at the Lough Erne Resort, which boasts a first-class golf course designed by Nick Faldo. It was this location that was chosen by the G8 nations to meet in 2013 to discuss broad ranging issues. The meetings took place in the library, where we had afternoon tea after a delightful dinner. We sat in the same seats as Obama and Cameron, Merkl and Putin had done two years prior, but our conversation was of a much lighter nature.
But it was not our shared experiences in places trod by monks, Vikings or world leaders that made our time special and significant. It was the fact that this was a family, together and united by generations of love and faith, trust and friendship. It was yet another stone cemented in place to undergird our commonality and to provide more lasting and precious memories.
The erosion of families has long been on the agenda of our arch-enemy. Today the incidence of dysfunctional families with a multiplicity of parental figureheads, and none, within many nuclei, is heartbreakingly common. It is our job in this generation of church to rise up against the crumbling values of society and to stand strong for marriage and family. This is no mean feat and will require resolute faith and determination to reverse the tide. Joshua was able to say, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’. There it is: resolute faith and determination; an absolute commitment to making family work, based on a deep faith in God. But how can this be worked out? What does it look like in real terms?
The answer is both baffling in its simplicity and obvious in its application. To illustrate this, I appeal to the example of the eighty-three year old man in this story – my father-in-law, John Watters. As a father to his children and grandchildren, he is constantly in prayer. He has consistently lived a godly life and taught the Scriptures to his family, applying the Word in every situation that he has come up against. There is nothing complicated about what he has done, and yet his example has pervaded each of the lives of his family members. All eighteen have been affected, as well as the ones not present at the weekend.
Surely it is in the simplicity of faithfulness to the Word and to prayer, the determination to live a godly life and to apply Scripture to every life situation and depend on the Holy Spirit, that we will forge strong families for future generations. In this way we can be history-makers in our own right, maybe not making history in the classic way that demands huge recognition and pages of opinion, but in a quieter, godly way that will allow us to finally hear those coveted words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’
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