Tag: Taylor Family Reunion

Back in the Saddle after a Brief Mini-Vacation

On By Tim ValentinoIn General1 Comment

1. Well, my mother-in-law did it! She made the trip to Hickory, NC and back again, with only about four stops each way. After a lot of coaching, re-directing, and sign making, Lorena pressed on and did what few people thought she could do. She successfully attended part of the 2021 Taylor Family Reunion. Yes, she was confused by much of what was going on around her, but she did recognize her brothers and sisters when she got to speak to them. That alone was worth taking the trip. (Eleven of the 13 remaining siblings were able to attend this year; one has since passed away.) We’ve often said that Lorena is most like herself when she prays. Maybe that’s why she was asked to close the family worship service in prayer on Sunday morning. That was a precious moment. We usually stay for the whole week and participate in all the reunion activities, but this year we came back after a few days so as not to overwhelm her. There are a few snaps below, and we’re trusting our cousins to fill in the gaps for us. As always, my son Andrew is capturing the event on video.

Taylor family worship service at the Rex Allen theater.
Lorena Moore worshiping the Lord.
Lorena and her sister-in-law, Judith Taylor.
Lorena closing the worship service in prayer.
First-generation Taylors who were able to attend the reunion this year.

2. Mercy. Grace. Covenant. Love. Hope. Those were the broad themes I spoke on last week at one of the camp meetings in our region. There was a wonderful response to the message each night, and on several occasions, the altar service lasted well over an hour with dozens of folks responding in prayer, gratitude, and/or repentance—just quietly singing, praying, hugging, and waiting on the Lord. Happily, the leaders were not being manipulative at all; they just said, “Come if you feel led, or pray with others in your seats, or leave quietly if you’d like. Just spend these moments with the Lord in whatever way the Spirit leads.” It was beautiful to watch the grace of God melting hearts and renewing hope. (The Apostle Paul reminds us that it’s the kindness of the Lord that leads to repentance, not the harshness of preachers and other believers.) I was especially moved by the willing response of the young people. Oh, and I may have “ugly cried” once or twice while singing Jenn Johnson’s “Goodness of God.” 🙂

A glorious shot of the camp cabins.

3. Seldom does this sort of thing resonate with my spirit (because of its inherent potential for abuse), but a brother spoke a word over me on the final night I spoke at camp. He said, “While we were praying, God gave me a vision of you as a shiny trumpet, and God playing his sacred song through you, blowing his breath of life through your voice when you teach and preach. He’s using you to play his beautiful song of grace for many people, even as he continues to polish out any remaining discoloration in your own trumpet. There’s an accuser trying to call people’s attention to the discoloration rather than to God’s song and the polishing he continues to do for you. Don’t ever be discouraged by that accusing voice. Just keep letting God give the clarion call of his kingdom through you.” Alrighty, then. So be it.

4. My head and heart are exploding from all that I’m learning in my dissertation research. My working title (which will almost certainly change over the next several months) is: “Thresholds of Eternity: Tracing the Veil of Yahweh’s Sanctuary from Its Creation and Consecration to Its Destruction and Obsolescence in the New Age of Living Temples.” I estimate that I have about four more months of intense research, followed four months of principal writing, followed by two months of refining and defending. The only frustration is watching my workout schedule getting squeezed out. I have got to remedy that. Oh, and I’m going broke buying books for this venture. But I suppose that that’s not too terribly frustrating. After all, this fall we’ll be renovating the basement and creating a home library/podcast studio. If there’s any money left. 🙂

Artist’s rendition of Israel’s tabernacle in the desert.

More from the 2021 Taylor Family Reunion (Hickory, NC)

Got to attend a Crawdads game Sunday night with my kids and a whole bunch of other relatives.
After the game we oooo-ed and aaah-ed at the Independence Day fireworks.
Uncle Tommy Taylor in the original homestead barn. He’s the kindest man you could ever meet, and he turns 90 later this month.
This year, instead of the Monday morning hayride, we replicated chores the first generation did on the farm, including hoeing a row, milking a cow, moving rocks, stacking hay bales, etc. It became a contest to see which team could do them the fastest.
One chore was to carry water from the spring house to a tub and then “take a bath” in it. The rules required that one team member get their feet, knees, and shoulders completely wet. Sonya was the good sport on our team.
One of our tasks was to line up the school pictures of the original 14 kids in their birth order. We in the second generation could handle that, but it was fun to watch the third generation try to do it.
The well-loved “field day” activity is in full swing today, and social media lets us catch some of the highlights from a distance. Those who are able will be traveling to Lake Fontana tomorrow for the rest of the reunion.