Family Friday

🎶The Shelley Bunch 🎶 The Shelley Bunch 🎶 That’s the way we became the Shelley Bunch 🎶!

One of the greatest gifts you can receive in this life is to Love and be Loved by somebody. As my family grows so does my love for them everyday. But there are people who don't get the privilege of having someone to love or be loved by someone else. That's why it's important to take the love of Christ with you wherever you go. No matter how hard it gets, Christ has commanded us to love one another. When we choose to obey God in this it releases us to reach our full potential, and also releases the restrictions the world puts on us. Why do we love? Because Christ Loved us first. 

Twenty Five years ago this coming August 22 I met Divina on the side of a busy highway at 10:00pm at night. Her and her four friends, one being a guy from Papua New Guinea going to our University and the other three still great friends today, were stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire. Just that week we had started our college careers at Southwestern Assemblies of God University and were ready to start our classes the following week . On that busy I-35 highway, dark with cars and huge trucks whizzing by, Divina led them to pray for a good Christian young man from their University to stop and help. 

What we found out later was we were all at the same church service that night in Oak Cliff, which is a part of Dallas. After service I decided to drive around to get to know the area a little better before heading back to campus. Good thing I did, because I would have missed them completely. I fondly remember driving past them, seeing for a split second, a couple of young ladies standing on the side of the road. One of them had a jean skirt on (that one being Divina), and I remember saying to myself that they had to be from Southwestern. I had no idea how to get back to them, so I exited the highway and ten minutes later finally got back to where they were. 

As soon as I drove up some of the girls ran to my pickup and were thankful to see me. But, Divina being the cautious one, told them not to do that because I might be a crazy person. It turned out I wasn't, though some might disagree. I began changing the tire to our friends car, which took me over an hour because of the conditions, and I also stopped to pick up Divina's broken pearl bracelet. Let the awe-ing begin. But, the tire was a little flat, so some of the girls had to ride with me back to our campus. Guess who rode in the cab with me? You guessed it, Divina did. And that night I found my best friend which became my wife for life. 

Now, there are some details I might of left out, but I wanted you to know in short how this family all started. Some might say it was a chance meeting where two people's fate and destiny collided on that night, but I say it was all God. I believe it was the Holy Spirit leading me to stop, because as a young man I made it a point to stop and help others that were stranded on highways. I also believe that it was through that obedience that God released a blessing that has followed us in life and ministry. He has blessed us with our 4Shells and provided in ways that amaze us every time. It's not always easy, but it's worth it to love no matter what. And we are teaching our children to love and meet the needs around them. You usually find your ministry and calling by doing, not just sitting around waiting on God to speak. So, Go and Do! There are those out there waiting on a family to love them. It's Called the Body of Christ, and you are a part of it. Peace!

Philip