I am finishing reading the book of II Chronicles in the Bible, and have re-discovered something interesting. The writer speaks very highly of a couple of kings. It's as if these two men had a spotless record. I am most impressed.except that I had finished reading the books of 1^st and 2^nd Kings not long before, and found that the accounts there told a bit of a different story. Okay, not really different. - just more detail that is simply not found in the Chronicles. Kings David and Solomon.father and son; far from perfect, but chosen by God. As I read more about them, I find myself loving them even more - maybe because of their humanity and imperfections. I also find myself more in love with God.their God and my God.one and the same. Beautiful God Who loves us and chooses us in spite of our imperfections and--call it what it is--sin. Beautiful God Who works with us and changes us to become more of what He created us to be.

So what about the writer of Chronicles? Was he in denial of the weaknesses and sin of these two precious and chosen kings? Was he not willing to confront their sinful behavior and speak about it in Scripture? Did he not see the pink elephant in the living room? Maybe he did see it - and attempted to sweep it under the carpet. So, what's going on here anyway?

Travel with me.

I'm taking you to Missouri for a family reunion. I went with really no expectations, knowing that the only direction was up.hopefully! Don't get me wrong.I love, love, love my family, and we truly love to get together. Like a lot of families though, there is more than enough dysfunction to go around. Earlier in the year my father had asked me if I would be willing to take all of his and my mom's family pictures that had accumulated over the years - many years. His desire was that I would weed through them, organize, label, and assemble them in albums that would serve as a legacy for us and for future generations. Outwardly, I replied with love - "of course I will". Inwardly, I was breaking out in hives.knowing the potential magnitude of this task. (My dad made it clear to me that I certainly did not need to do this task at all. He did not want to create an unnecessary burden for me.) Seriously, we are talking about thousands of pictures - most of which are not labeled or organized in any conceivable way. My husband (most graciously) and I loaded them into the vehicle (hoping we would still have room for our luggage that would be nice to bring back home with us!), and we all headed on to the reunion.

Wow - expectations met and exceeded.highly! All during this family time, I found myself looking at my extended family members with an even deeper sense of love and gratitude. I know this was due to many factors, one of them being the fact that I had looked through many of those family photos before we had packed them up. Those photos brought back all kinds of memories - both beautiful and some not so kind. But the 'pay-off' for me was realizing that no matter what each picture contained, each represented an event or stage of life where we as a family worked and played together to accomplish life. No matter what - we were (and still are) in this together.this 'thing' called 'life'. When it was time to journey home, we were all so sad that such a great family time needed to come to an end. (I've often told my children that the amount of sadness felt is often equal to the amount of love held.)

So, what does all of this have to do with the Chronicles in the Bible? That part of our travels is yet to come! Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,

Libby

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