Bread for the Journey - Celebrating Family

The old Hymn “Blest be the Tie” speaks to me of the Christian family:

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne we pour our ardent pray'rs; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear; and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.

For me, this month has been all about family.

It started with a family reunion in Ontario –

my mom’s siblings and their families gathered to celebrate.

It was wonderful time of renewing family relationships that had been restricted because of time and distance. There was joy in welcoming the newest members and a sense of loss over those who had passed on. Throughout the whole day there was an atmosphere of love and support as we caught up on events in each other's life‘s journey.

When we got home our daughter and grandsons came for a visit. Because they live several provinces away we don’t see them often, so a visit is a time to check on how much the boys have grown, make opportunities for the cousins to play and find fun things for the family to do together.

One of the reasons for their visit was the marriage of our nephew last weekend. Two who are dear to us have fallen in love and are making a commitment to become one. We joyously celebrate the occasion of their marriage.

The month is almost over now and today my husband and I have invited friends and family to join us as we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Like every man and wife, we’ve had good times and difficult ones but our love for each other has carried us through to this day and so we celebrate.

In the Christian life, we also celebrate family.

When someone is born into the family of God, the Bible tells us that all of Heaven rejoices.

When a member of God’s family goes through difficulties, we do our best to support them through prayer and practical help.

We are saddened when one of God's children chooses to leave the family and we rejoice when the family relationship is restored.

Finally, there is the promise of wonderful family reunion to look forward to. When Christ returns He will gather the whole family of God together and the celebration will be never ending.

Are you a member of God’s family? All you have to do is accept His Name and you become God’s son or daughter and a member of a large and loving family.

I hope to see each one of you at that family reunion.

What a family party that will be!