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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
I don't know who started the standard of the first weekend in August being the best time for a family to have a reunion, but it seems that there are many that do. My wife's family is one of those. Some forty plus years ago the extended family got the idea of returning to the area where all these families used to live. It is a region called Big Ridge and the focal point of the region is the old Antioch Christian Church. All the families that used to populate the area; the Midkiffs, the Smiths, the McDaniels, the Humphries, the Fridleys, the Hiltons (I probably left one or two out), all gather the first Sunday of August at the old church for a reunion.
As a result of the gathering on Big Ridge the Fridleys decided to have a reunion all their own on the farm that has been in the family for years. I married into the Fridley family so I became a part of the Fridley reunion. When I first joined the family the reunion was held at the home of John and Eleanor Fridley, my father-and-mother-in-law. The farm is well out of town from Covington, Virginia, and made a wonderful setting for an afternoon affair with all the grandchildren running loose in the yard.
I had heard them talk of going up on Big Ridge but never really understood what that meant until I asked my wife. She filled me in on what Big Ridge meant to so many of the families there in the area. We started going up to the Big Ridge reunion a few times as well. That was when I really found out what it meant; or should I say means. It's all about heritage. The mountains were where the people settled quite often in the Virginia territory. They provided protection and ready food for the settlers. And they made them feel close to God.
The Antioch Christian Church was begun for the Big Ridge community and pretty much everyone on Big Ridge attended. The people of that day leaned on God for their direction in some rather perilous times and forged a community spirit based on their common faith. That is why every year they come back to Big Ridge to that little church house. They reminisce and worship and, for a few hours, recapture that spirit of one-ness that their families once knew. That one-ness is what brings them back year after year.
The greatest homecoming reunion that there will ever be is coming. It will be here quicker than we think and yet seem like it took an eternity to happen. Nice thing is, it won't be for just an afternoon. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:3-5 That's the way a reunion ought to be; forever and ever as one.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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