{"id":22661,"date":"2025-08-10T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=22661"},"modified":"2025-08-09T20:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T01:56:14","slug":"from-west-texas-to-the-kingdom-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=22661","title":{"rendered":"From West Texas to the Kingdom of God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Carl and I are back in Lubbock — old stomping grounds and the heartland of all things Texas Tech Red Raiders. Guns up! But the real celebration this time is another family reunion.

Last June, we hosted the Noble Family Reunion in Fort Worth — Carl\u2019s dad\u2019s side. We wrangled about 130 kinfolk together — toddlers, teens, retirees, and everyone in between. And yes, Carl and a few of his cousins officially claimed the \u201cOldest in Attendance\u201d title. We gave out hugs like party favors and swapped lots of stories.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Yesterday, Saturday, we gathered again — (but with the Mize Clan, from Carl\u2019s mom\u2019s side. His mother, Gladys, was the only girl among seven brothers. Three became farmers, two became successful contractors — including Uncle Fred and cousin Don, who built the Regency Hotel in Dallas. Clearly, the Mizes weren\u2019t afraid of a little dirt or drywall.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This year\u2019s reunion was hosted at Brent (Carl’s brother) and Cathy\u2019s beautiful home, with cousins Shirley, Debbie, and Sandy sprinkling the day with good food, laughter, and backyard pool splashes. Lots of stories for the hundredth time like they were brand new — and they still made us laugh!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Families. They\u2019re beautiful, complicated, and sometimes messy. But whether we come from picture-perfect roots or deeply tangled trees, we\u2019ve all been given a new name in God\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He invites us in — quirks, history, heartbreak, and all. No one\u2019s excluded. And in this family, there\u2019s no sibling rivalry or black sheep — just grace, love, and a seat at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Jesus said His followers would be known by their love. Not the polished kind, but the kind that reaches, invites, hugs, and forgives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s remember: Whether we’re in Lubbock or church pews, cookouts or quiet moments, we are wanted, loved, and adopted by the One who created family in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s always room for one more. Families — they\u2019re loud, loving, and sometimes a little lopsided\u2026 but oh, what a gift!<\/p>\n\n\n

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We\u2019re reminded that no matter where we come from, we\u2019re all invited into God\u2019s forever family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No drama. No comparison. Just grace, love, and a seat at the table.
We\u2019re all kin in the Kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carl and I are back in Lubbock — old stomping grounds and the heartland of all things Texas Tech Red Raiders. Guns up! But the real celebration this time is another family reunion. Last June, we hosted the Noble Family Reunion in Fort Worth — Carl\u2019s dad\u2019s side. We wrangled about 130 kinfolk together —…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[32340,1210,1769,32342,1392,1084,9997,32339,40,32336,1937,32343,1077,28540,32338,32337,32341,32335],"class_list":["post-22661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-backyard","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-drums","tag-facebook","tag-family","tag-gods-family","tag-good-food","tag-inspiration","tag-kinfolk","tag-kingdom-of-god","tag-known-by-love","tag-laughter","tag-lubbock","tag-mize-family","tag-noble-family","tag-pool","tag-west-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22668,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22661\/revisions\/22668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}