Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Relationship and Fellowship


Mom's favorite mohawk
I loved it all but as I said before, my favorite thing at Disneyland was watching my children interact with their children. All that really says is that my treasured role on earth is being Papa. Deanna never said what her favorite thing was specifically but her comments lead me to believe it was watching her four sons interact. For her mother’s heart that was the thing she commented on the most. Every time the four boys were together, (ok they were usually poking or prodding each other) she commented on how wonderful it was. Only she could tell you why she feels that way but there is a mystery here. When the boys were small it was not uncommon for a total stranger (usually in a grocery line) to make a comment about Deanna’s “creativity” in giving birth to 4 boys who were so different. They still are in about every way you can think of. But they still prefer to travel in a pack of 4 whenever possible. It is interesting to note that the one area they separate in is in their relations with their mother and sister. It appears they do not want to share either of them with the other brothers. They typically seek out Mom or Doni alone time. Why is that? The simple answer is they are brothers, they seek and enjoy the fellowship because of their relationship. . Because they are so different, they do not always agree and sometimes it is serious but because of the relationship they purpose to improve their fellowship. That reminds me of something Andrew Murray wrote:
The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see
1 Corinthians 1:26–31). God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all—we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.”
I’m glad we got to go to Disneyland and spend time working on our relationships before we all get lost in the “doing” of the season.

3 comments:

Doni Brinkman said...

Amen to the last line. And I can't say enough how much I enjoy my precious alone time with each of my brothers.

heidi jo said...

i love seeing "family" defined by Zimmermann terms... it touches my heart and makes me thankful all over again to be loving and loved by you!

Jodi said...

I am blessed beyond words to be a part of this family. I love to watch Darin talking to Doni or to see him take time to sit and talk with Mom. This may not seem like much to anyone, but Darin is a mover. There is very little time where he isn't talking to one person on the phone, one in person and also doing some task. The love this family has is beyond anything that can be explained. I am forever a Zimmermann and I am thankful everday for it :).