One of my favorite items in our home is a framed cross stitch piece that was made for me by a friend. It reads “The very best place to be is in a loving family.” I read it often thinking all the while that to belong in my family and be a part of God’s family eternally is where I know I’ll always want to be. With life being like a roller coaster ride, what else is there but the love of Jesus Christ our savior, prayer and your faith to sustain you, give you strength, courage, comfort, hope, and the peace that passeth all understanding.

Faith, to me, is a gift from God. It is an extremely powerful emotion. Faith is to be leaned on because just as Isaiah 7:9 says, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” My parents provided for me a beautiful example of a solid foundation of faith to build on. How fortunate I was and didn’t even yet know it that being born into a dairy farming family with Christian parents that strongly believed in hands to work with heart and eyes to God. Our home was filled with love, laughter, hugs, playing and fighting with brothers and sisters, work, and discipline. You could expect to be tickled when you were tucked into bed after bedtime prayer. Every family meal began with the tradition of holding hands during the blessing and ended with a family devotion time. Another family staple included attending Sunday School, youth activities, and worship services where we were members of Hickory Mountain Baptist Church, which was quite similar to Cane Creek Baptist Church here.

Now don’t forget I shared that I was a dairy farmer’s daughter that led me to study Ag & Life Sciences at N.C. State as well as did a farmer’s son from Orange Grove. Well, you know the rest of the story. Dan and I have been happily married now for 28 years. As Dan says, I could have looked the world over and never have found anyone more wonderful than he. Don’t tell Dan, but he is right. How sweet it was to be welcomed into a wonderful Christian family from Orange Grove with beliefs so similar to my own upbringing and be welcomed into the Cane Creek Church family, too.

Life is good I thought!

Even when life is wonderfully good, it can be tough as nails, too. My life has contained some struggles that I may never understand. Some of these struggles have affected me very deeply and no matter how I look at them they will probably not ever make any sense to me. Why do young fathers and mothers who are brothers and sisters to Dan and I develop disease and leave this earth bound for heaven way to early with young children left behind? Why are innocent children born into this world with birth defects? How can you be teased all throughout your pregnancy about how wonderfully boring and healthy you and your unborn child are and then to have a son be born with a major heart defect?

Only by the grace of God, the power of prayer, your prayer, this church along with many other churches were praying with us and for us helping Dan and I to stand firm in our faith and praise God survive open heart surgery with a new born son at 6 months old. Why only a few years later does a daughter enter into this world unable to see clearly for the first time until about the age of 4? For twenty years she had not been able to see beyond her hand in front of her face without glasses or contact lenses until having been blessed recently with a successful corrective eye surgery. I’ve never really heard my children complain or dwell much on their limitations or use them as a crutch. Living with the positives and all the wonderful blessings that occur in their lives each day far outweigh the negatives practically any day of the week. Just like one of our family’s recent blessings is an addition to our family, our new daughter by marriage.

Faith words speak loud and clear to me through my children. I want to say thank you to this church again for helping Dan and I to teach and support our children in so many ways. Another one of life’s struggles that I don’t understand is why do young grandchildren have to grow up with only a few years of memories made with special grandparents or not to have any memory at all of a grandparent? How is it possible to have 7 members of your immediate family leave you on this earth and move forward to heaven within a time frame of less than 10 years and you become part of the oldest living generation of your family and you’re not even 40 years old yet? Well, relying on faith to help you think about the quality of life with family members versus the quantity of years spent together gets you through.

To know that your husband is a true team player that is very devoted and dedicated to helping continue all the family traditions that are meaningful to us because our children need the constant mainstay of us as their parents. They are counting on us to step up to the plate and be a hitter, not to throw in the towel. With faith, Dan and I are able to work through the heartaches of disappointments and our own shortcomings, still struggle with illnesses and losing family members, but now we are able to laugh about fond memories and how we’ll be joined together again for an eternity in heaven because of the wonderful gift of salvation that has been promised to us all. I sincerely believe that it’s all about how you chose to lean on your faith and the way that you walk through life’s journey will define you. My faith has carried me, propped me up, pushed me and helped me to be a survivor. Just as the song goes, I have known the Father’s care for me. He’s been good. Through it all he’s always there for me. Through the storms, through the night, come what may everything will be all right. God’s been good to me. I know that what I feel is more real and true than anything that I’ve ever known. It is very life changing and very life stabilizing, too.

Above all else, always remember how much Jesus loves us and cares for us. He is the very best friend that you will ever have and He will always be right there with you every step of the way.

Kaye Snipes – July 8, 2007