Like Father, Like son…and Daughter
The recent passing of my grandmother left in my hands the possession of some old memories. My aunt found a box in my grandmother’s wooden chest that said, “Give to Bette Jo.” Inside the box was a letter. My grandmother's letter explained that in the box I would find things that she had been collecting since 1973. There were letters that my dad wrote to her when he was in the National Guard, cards that I, my younger brother, or my mom had given her over the years, old pictures of the family and of her when she was young, clippings of my younger brother’s wedding shower, the invitation to my younger brother’s wedding shower, the corsage she wore at my younger brother’s wedding, and various things that has been donated or done in memory of my dad. There was more, but you get the picture. The most meaningful thing to me was her willingness to keep up with these things over the years, and then entrust them to me. One of my favorite things that I found was a picture that I had never seen before. It was taken in 1957. In the picture was my grandmother, grandfather, and my dad who was about two years old at the time the picture was taken. When I saw my dad in the picture, my mouth dropped. It was like I was looking at a picture of my younger brother Jesse. I could not believe it. I showed it to my mom and her reaction was much the same as mine had been. She said, “I have never seen this picture before.” I assume it was because the picture was old and torn, and perhaps my grandmother did not want it damaged anymore than it was, so she kept it tucked away. Both mine and my mom’s mind went to a couple pictures of Jesse taken in 1986 and 1987 when he was about the same age. I went through our photo albums searching for these two pictures. After searching awhile, I found them. I could not believe how much my dad and Jesse resembled one another. I begin to think of how awesome it is that our God creates an individual and then allows him or her to produce an offspring that resembles them in so many ways. I know we are each unique individuals, and no person’s DNA is exactly the same, but we can be quite the “spitting image” of our parents.
Just a few weeks ago, a great uncle said to me, “Your daddy will never be dead as long as Jesse is alive.” It is true that my older brother has some characteristics of my father, and it is also true that I have some ways and looks like my father, but not as much as my younger brother does. In the book of Genesis, it says that God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27). I pondered how wonderful our God is, in the way He designed the creation process. I considered what it meant to be made in the image of someone or to be called the “spitting image” of someone.
What is image? I looked it up in the dictionary, and image can be defined as: Exact likeness, or a tangible or visible representation of something. This means that since I am made in the image of Christ, I should be the exact likeness of Christ. It also means that I should be a visible representation of Christ. I am not saying that I am a Christ, but I should live a life in such a way that when others see me, they will see the life of Christ being portrayed. It is the same as when I looked at my dad’s picture and I saw Jesse, others should be able to look at me and see Christ. Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Just as my great uncle told me that as long as Jesse was around, my dad would never die. Can others say of me, “I’m not sure what it means to be a born again Christian, but she is as close as it gets.” Can they say that about you? The only way that my two brothers and I could reflect my father in any way, is that we had to be born of him. We must be born again in order to reflect our Heavenly Father (John 3:3). At the moment of this conversion, we gain the ability to reflect our Heavenly Father. How much of your Heavenly Father do others see in you? If your portrait was set next to the portrait of Christ, how much of a resemblance would there be?
The recent passing of my grandmother left in my hands the possession of some old memories. My aunt found a box in my grandmother’s wooden chest that said, “Give to Bette Jo.” Inside the box was a letter. My grandmother's letter explained that in the box I would find things that she had been collecting since 1973. There were letters that my dad wrote to her when he was in the National Guard, cards that I, my younger brother, or my mom had given her over the years, old pictures of the family and of her when she was young, clippings of my younger brother’s wedding shower, the invitation to my younger brother’s wedding shower, the corsage she wore at my younger brother’s wedding, and various things that has been donated or done in memory of my dad. There was more, but you get the picture. The most meaningful thing to me was her willingness to keep up with these things over the years, and then entrust them to me. One of my favorite things that I found was a picture that I had never seen before. It was taken in 1957. In the picture was my grandmother, grandfather, and my dad who was about two years old at the time the picture was taken. When I saw my dad in the picture, my mouth dropped. It was like I was looking at a picture of my younger brother Jesse. I could not believe it. I showed it to my mom and her reaction was much the same as mine had been. She said, “I have never seen this picture before.” I assume it was because the picture was old and torn, and perhaps my grandmother did not want it damaged anymore than it was, so she kept it tucked away. Both mine and my mom’s mind went to a couple pictures of Jesse taken in 1986 and 1987 when he was about the same age. I went through our photo albums searching for these two pictures. After searching awhile, I found them. I could not believe how much my dad and Jesse resembled one another. I begin to think of how awesome it is that our God creates an individual and then allows him or her to produce an offspring that resembles them in so many ways. I know we are each unique individuals, and no person’s DNA is exactly the same, but we can be quite the “spitting image” of our parents.
Just a few weeks ago, a great uncle said to me, “Your daddy will never be dead as long as Jesse is alive.” It is true that my older brother has some characteristics of my father, and it is also true that I have some ways and looks like my father, but not as much as my younger brother does. In the book of Genesis, it says that God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27). I pondered how wonderful our God is, in the way He designed the creation process. I considered what it meant to be made in the image of someone or to be called the “spitting image” of someone.
What is image? I looked it up in the dictionary, and image can be defined as: Exact likeness, or a tangible or visible representation of something. This means that since I am made in the image of Christ, I should be the exact likeness of Christ. It also means that I should be a visible representation of Christ. I am not saying that I am a Christ, but I should live a life in such a way that when others see me, they will see the life of Christ being portrayed. It is the same as when I looked at my dad’s picture and I saw Jesse, others should be able to look at me and see Christ. Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Just as my great uncle told me that as long as Jesse was around, my dad would never die. Can others say of me, “I’m not sure what it means to be a born again Christian, but she is as close as it gets.” Can they say that about you? The only way that my two brothers and I could reflect my father in any way, is that we had to be born of him. We must be born again in order to reflect our Heavenly Father (John 3:3). At the moment of this conversion, we gain the ability to reflect our Heavenly Father. How much of your Heavenly Father do others see in you? If your portrait was set next to the portrait of Christ, how much of a resemblance would there be?
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