We moved a lot in my childhood

due to the fact that Dad was an Army chaplain.

Being a total extrovert, I

loved the excitement and new experiences that this gypsy life style provided.

There were always new friends and new opportunities and new lands to explore.

Many who read this would be

in total terror of the idea of moving so much, but for me it was a way

to see the world and experience much. Imagine graduating from high school

in the beautiful city of Frankfurt, Germany. Great days!

With this mobile life style,

you had to have touchstones and special root rituals that your family

celebrated.

My mother was born in Neosho,

Mo. and reared in Okmulgee, Okla. This was right down the highway from

Muskogee, Okla. where Merle Haggart wrote the hit countrysong, "Okie

From Muskogee."

My Father was from here in

Georgia from a wonderful little town called Social Circle. From these

two very different states and backgrounds God in his infinite wisdom put

these two wonderful Christians together.

The touchstones of our family

journey would take us from Oklahoma to Georgia over the years. When we

were not overseas, most of our summers were spent in Oklahoma. It was

here that I learned the value of family touchstones.

I know this is going to sound

strange, but EVERY night, not once in a while, but EVERY night of the

year, our loving family would get together at one of the relatives' houses

there in Okmulgee and have the best times a family could have. Each one

would tell stories of how the early West was settled there in the oil

boom town.

When mother's family came there

the streets were unpaved and some pretty rough characters would follow

the oil fields that were being discovered all around Okmulgee. In fact

part of "the trail of tears" started here in Georgia and ended

there for the Creek Indians. Okmulgee became the Creek Indian capital.

I noticed in Macon that there

is an Ocmulgee River which has a slightly different spelling. It is also

interesting that after the government gave this seemingly ugly scrub oak

wasteland to the Indians, they discovered oil everywhere. The Indians

that had been resettled and poorly treated became very wealthy overnight.

"His ways are not our ways, and our ways are not His ways."

The Children of Israel also

had their "touchstones" of their journeys. In the Old Testament

whenever God would perform some great miracle like with Moses and the

opening of the Red Sea, they would erect a pyramid of stones on the spot

of the miracle. When the children would then ask, "Father what are

these stones for?" it would give the parents and the spiritual leaders

opportunities to tell the stories of how God had provided for his people.

These oral traditions were

being passed from generation to generation.

We need to ask ourselves what

traditions we are passing on to our children and the next generation.

My dear friend Lennie Dunn

of Always Safe Lock and Key and our church called me the other day and

was laughing over the phone at a church sign he had read. It read, "Don't

wait 'til six strong men carry you to church." I love it!

Don't let your funeral be the

only touchstone in your family's spiritual journey.

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is

the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC), and a former Army chaplain.

The church is on 15 acres one mile south of Ga. Highway 16 in Senoia.

It is just below the fire station on Ga. Highway 85 south. Prayer line

and church office 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected].