Originally published in the June 25, 2009 issue of The Evangel.
by Rubynelle and Tommy Dixon
As we look back after rearing children and seeing the family expand to grandchildren, family is the dearest thing to us. Through joys and trials, good times and bad, family gives meaning to life as nothing else can, outside of our relationship to God. Thanks to nurturing and caring parents of our own, we have continued that legacy of love. Did it just happen? Is our family the result of chance? How did we manage to get this far? There had to be plusses along the way that helped us. One plus has been the family of faith at First Baptist Nashville.
One dictionary defines family as "a group of people united and tied together by certain convictions." That describes our faith family here at First Baptist, united by the conviction that God is real and that faith in Christ is central. From that comes love and support that outsiders find hard to understand.
People in this church--friends, pastors, teachers, and music leaders--have been the plus that has added riches to our family life. We have rejoiced together in a wedding service, prayed for help, cried when grandchildren have been dedicated, and supported when concerns have been part of our walk. We have watched as children left for youth camps, went on mission trips, sang during choir trips, and laughed together at basketball games. And we have experienced joy as our grandchildren have gone to Bible drills, participated in lock-ins, left on camping ventures, and participated in choir-mission adventures. We have listened as our granddaughter sang from the steps of the sanctuary with Miss Martha and our minds returned to the time when our own children sang with Miss Martha, on the very same steps.
The faith family at First Baptist has been, and continues to be, the plus in our family. Could we have done it without them? Not with the same results. Not with the joy and richness that comes from faith itself.
Every family needs a plus as it grows. We thank God for the impact of First Baptist in our family's life and development. It continues to be a God-given plus for us.
