WHAT IS THIS? IS IT A COCONUT? YES, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS A SEED FROM A COCONUT TREE. SOMETIMES, WE THINK OF SEEDS AS BEING FOOD. SEEDS HAVE MANY PURPOSES. THIS SEED IS USED TO PROROGATE THE SPECIES. IN NATURE, THIS SEED IS CARRIED ON WATER, BY ANIMALS, BY PEOPLE, BY WIND TO SPREAD IT BEYOND THE REACH OF THE TREES BRANCHES. WHAT ABOUT THE DANDELION or the TUMBLE WEED, the wind spreads their seeds on to wherever it blows and each seed has the potential to reproduce its self many times. Or, how about the berry Vines whose fruit is eaten by the birds and animals and is carried off to be deposited in another place where it can grow and reproduce again and again. Seeds carry the exact blueprint of the plant that produced it. PLANTS CAN PRODUCE MANY TIMES THE ONE SEED IT TOOK TO PRODUCE IT. SOME DOZENS, SOME HUNDREDS, SOME THOUSANDS IN A SINGLE SEASON. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE UNLIMITED. IDEAS ARE SEEDS. WE CAN STIMULATE AND CULTIVATE THEM AND MAKE THEM GROW. 
Just as the wind carries seeds, the wind drove our great family to California from Oklahoma in the dust bowl days. It was adversity that planted us here. Where else in the world could we be that would be better?
WE LIVE IN THE GREATEST NATION OF ALL TIME. WE HAVE THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES EVER. WE CAN DO ANYTHING OR GO ANYWHERE  WE WANT.  
SOMETIMES, WE GO DOWN THE WRONG PATH PERHAPS, WE NEED TO SEE WHERE WE DO NOT WANT TO GO IN ORDER TO BE MOTIVATED TO GO IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. AT TIMES, THERE IS FRUSTRATION AND DISAPPOINTMENT. THESE CAN BE WAYS TO REDIRECT US TO THE RIGHT WAY JUST LIKE OUR FAMILY WAS UP ROOTED FROM THE COMFORT ZONE OF FAMILIARITY AND SENT TO A NEW LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.DO YOU SEE HOW GOD HAS BEEN BLESSING US ALL OF OUR LIVES?
INSIDE EACH OF US IS THE SEED TO DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSETHIS IS WHY JESUS SAID YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN, JOHN 3:3. THE BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE IS THE GERMINATION OR BEGINNING OF OUR RELATION WITH GOD. IN ADDITION, HE ALSO SAID, SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTNESS, AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS WILL BE ADDED UNTO YOU MT. 6:33. God wants us to be made in his likeness. He wants US to have a relationship with HIM. JESUS SAID, THE THIEF COMES TO STEAL KILL AND DESTROY: BUT I HAVE COME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY. JOHN 10:10. WHAT IS THE THIEF TRYING TO TAKE FROM YOU? OR, WHAT HAS THE THIEF TAKEN FROM YOU THAT YOU WANT BACK? . 
WE HAVE THE GREATEST DECISION OF OUR LIVES TO MAKE IT IS NOT WHAT WE DO FOR WORK, OR WHERE WE LIVE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE GREAT DECISIONS, THE GREATEST DECISION WE HAVE TO MAKE IS WHAT WE DO ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN US AN ABUNDANT LIFE. THE QUESTION IS, WHAT WILL WE GIVE HIM IN RETURN?These comments and others from past reunions MAY BE FOUND AT www.giltonfamily.com Respectfully submitted by BRADLEY GILTON.