Renee Andrews's Blog - Posts Tagged "reunion"
Heavenly Reunion...
Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Ephesians 2:19
Each year, our extended family gets together for the traditional family reunion. When my Granny Bowers was living, she would organize the event, which always took place at Noccalula Falls, a beautiful park near my hometown that features a 90-foot waterfall, trails and playgrounds for children. It’s a stunning place to visit, but even more so when you consider that your family members will travel from all over to gather together and enjoy a meal, visit and catch up on life each year.
I always enjoy seeing the new babies (grandbabies in my case), meeting those who have recently joined the family through marriage, etc. Occasionally, I’ll have to pull my mom or dad aside and ask someone’s name (everyone changes a little with age, and my memory sure isn’t what it used to be.) But this year, two men joined the event that no one recognized. And I wasn’t the only person pulling others aside to find out the identity of the newcomers.
Eventually, we realized that my cousin Lisa, who now organizes the reunion, had inadvertently tagged the two on Facebook, because they happened to have the same last name as our family. And so they saw the invitation, brought a covered dish, and drove an hour to attend a reunion with a family they had never met. (You can laugh – we all did.) But what was even more interesting is that, after talking with the two for a while, we learned that we really are related…way on down the line.
One day, we will gather, like these men, with a family that we haven’t met before, but a family that shares our name. Christians. And what an amazing family reunion that will be!
This Week: Call a family member that you haven’t seen in a while. Feel the excitement of reconnecting, learning about everything that has happened in their life, and then imagine reconnecting with your family members that have passed on…and with all of the amazing family you haven’t even met! Praise God!
Renee Andrews
Let's Go Camping!
Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12
If I had to choose my favorite family vacations, I wouldn’t list those where we stayed in a hotel or had someone preparing our meals or making our beds. In fact, I’d probably choose the trips that involve the most work, our treasured camping trips.
Camping? Treasured?
Yes. And yes.
Ever since our boys were little, we’ve had family camping trips, as well as camping trips that involved groups of friends, often our friends from church. We typically arrive in the evening, pitch our tents and then find ourselves lulled to sleep by crickets, owls and frogs. Since most of our camping locations are away from any type of town, the sky is pitch black…except for those magnificent stars. All of God’s creation just seems more vivid, more real, when you get away from the hustle of the world and take a chance to breathe.
On these trips, our days are filled with children riding bicycles, running and playing around a campground. Afternoons and evenings find us all cooking together, then sitting around a campfire where we chat and laugh and sing. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire (marshmallows are inevitably nestled against a chunk of chocolate and placed between two graham crackers for s’mores).
Because we’ve moved several times over the years, the friends that accompany us on our camping trips have changed due to proximity. However, the families that have shared those special times with us are still some of our closest friends today. There’s something to be said for encouraging each other’s faith together, particularly when you are doing something that reminds you of your Lord.
And, perhaps because God is so clearly on display during these precious times, conversations often center around Him, around our faith and around our appreciation toward our Creator.
Are you wanting to take a camping trip yet? I know I am.
Why are those vacations so much more memorable than the ones where we were waited on hand and foot?
Because of the fellowship. The time spent together enjoying each other’s company. The meals created together and then consumed together. The joy of marveling over God’s creation…together. It is as if we’re glimpsing heaven. And it makes me look forward to that amazing fellowship we’ll experience there, with our Lord!
This Week: Plan a camping trip. Invite some friends and enjoy the beauty of God’s world and the fellowship of God’s people.
Renee Andrews
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Romans 1:11-12If I had to choose my favorite family vacations, I wouldn’t list those where we stayed in a hotel or had someone preparing our meals or making our beds. In fact, I’d probably choose the trips that involve the most work, our treasured camping trips.
Camping? Treasured?
Yes. And yes.
Ever since our boys were little, we’ve had family camping trips, as well as camping trips that involved groups of friends, often our friends from church. We typically arrive in the evening, pitch our tents and then find ourselves lulled to sleep by crickets, owls and frogs. Since most of our camping locations are away from any type of town, the sky is pitch black…except for those magnificent stars. All of God’s creation just seems more vivid, more real, when you get away from the hustle of the world and take a chance to breathe.
On these trips, our days are filled with children riding bicycles, running and playing around a campground. Afternoons and evenings find us all cooking together, then sitting around a campfire where we chat and laugh and sing. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire (marshmallows are inevitably nestled against a chunk of chocolate and placed between two graham crackers for s’mores).
Because we’ve moved several times over the years, the friends that accompany us on our camping trips have changed due to proximity. However, the families that have shared those special times with us are still some of our closest friends today. There’s something to be said for encouraging each other’s faith together, particularly when you are doing something that reminds you of your Lord.
And, perhaps because God is so clearly on display during these precious times, conversations often center around Him, around our faith and around our appreciation toward our Creator.
Are you wanting to take a camping trip yet? I know I am.
Why are those vacations so much more memorable than the ones where we were waited on hand and foot?
Because of the fellowship. The time spent together enjoying each other’s company. The meals created together and then consumed together. The joy of marveling over God’s creation…together. It is as if we’re glimpsing heaven. And it makes me look forward to that amazing fellowship we’ll experience there, with our Lord!
This Week: Plan a camping trip. Invite some friends and enjoy the beauty of God’s world and the fellowship of God’s people.
Renee Andrews
