Cousins, God’s Wonderful Gfts

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Diane, Bill and me. Not sure about the model of the car. I know it’s an old Chevy.  Maybe some of you old people will know.

A few days ago I posted some old pictures on a historic web site from my hometown. The pictures I posted were of my home place during a massive snow in 1960, the old store that my dad owned, and my grandfather standing in his peach orchard. Those three pictures represent so much of who I am today. My home was in a rural area. The only people I knew were the country folks that came to our store, those I briefly saw at church on Sunday, and two older cousins, Bill and Diane McElwain who were pretty much my playmates and best friends during my first six years. They were always around, and not having a sibling for almost five years, became as close to me as if they were my brother and sister.

In the late 1940's and early 1950's and the rural setting of my upbringing, cousins were, at the least, a child's best friends. Most rural people stayed on or near their home place. Cousins grew up seeing each other and playing together often. Families were close. No doubt, cousins managed to get in trouble together. They took up for each other, and, yes, some tines they got mad at each other and fought. Unfortunately, all of my cousins except Bill and Diane lived too far away for us to be together much. But several of them would come to our house in the summer and spend a week with us on our farm. I was very excited when they came although most of them were older than me, and pretty much considered me a little pest, and that I was.

Sadly many of them are no longer with us. I praise God that they are in heaven. Our parents were godly people and taught us to love Jesus. They instilled in us the importance of going to church, obeying the command to worship the Heavenly Father, and that it is an honor and a privilege to serve him. Thus, many of my cousins became church leaders, pianist, music directors, preachers, and some of our children and grandchildren have been called to a vocational ministry. God has richly blessed our family all the way back to our grandparents. But we have not been perfect. Most of us have had our bumps in the road. Yet, the Heavenly Father forgave us and set us back on the right path. My brother, Mike, and I are very grateful to Him for placing us in such a wonderful family, and for a dad who prayed without our knowledge that we would become preachers. And I thank God for every one of my sweet cousins.