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| 1961 Fields Family Gathering |
Autumn is often a season of homecomings & reunions-- in schools, in churches, in families-- and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is a prime time for such events. This summer, however, I was thrilled to have two reunions with long-time but not recently seen friends, and what a blessing it was! Now they both seem almost like dreams, yet the grace of these gatherings was nearly unspeakable.
The first was hosted by a friend of nearly fifty years who was a student during my brief teaching career. We had been instant "kindred spirits" and so our friendship grew far beyond our teacher-student relationship. For the many years during which we've not lived in the same town, or even state at times, we have usually seen each other once a year, during her summer break, as she followed in my footsteps and became a teacher. For the past seven, she has traveled to my home, often bringing with her a lovely lunch of gourmet salads, so that we could enjoy a full day of catching up. Since she had renovated her house during the past year, this time she invited Bill and me to come see her "new" home, and as a special treat included three other mutual friends also long unseen. Jean's lovely decor and delectable, carefully designed luncheon was truly HGTV-worthy, but the gift of reconnecting with "old friends," people who had been such a huge part of my life in a different time, was difficult to describe. It was as if time was no more, and we had all seen one another just days before!
The second reunion was similarly long overdue: a couple who were in our church briefly twenty-some years ago were celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary! Once again, we had become fast friends right after their arrival at our church, and remained so even after they moved away. Yet it had been many years since we had actually seen one another. Their daughter had stealthily found her mother's Christmas address list from that far back and amazingly was able to pull off a surprise party for one hundred of her parents' friends and family! We knew only one other couple from our church, Polly and Gene (the honorees), and their children, and yet everyone there seemed to chat effortlessly, simply because of their acquaintance with the honorees.
The week before these two momentous events, I had a dream which was perhaps in anticipation of them both. In it, I was in a sort of gallery of black and white photos of my life so far. The pictures were nicely framed to match and seemed suspended in air with a hazy backdrop of the loveliest spring green trees. It was not until after the two gatherings above that I began to contemplate the dream and its significance. When Polly called a couple of days after the second one and told me, "That was a little taste of Heaven!'" I had to agree. My entire week had been just that -- a preview of Heaven.
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV)
Though these two get-togethers were from totally different times of my life, in both situations there was one unifying factor which made our fellowship special: a mutual friend. I can't help contemplating a reunion that is yet to come, which will be joyous beyond imagining and will continue for eternity. That will be the reunion at my Friend Jesus's feet with all who have trusted Him throughout time. We'll reunite with not only faces we've known during our brief time on earth, but also our ancestors who passed on their faith to us, those earthly scribes who walked with Jesus and brought us His Word, and the great heroes of faith throughout history.
Like you, I imagine, I've been to many family reunions, church Homecomings, and even some class reunions. The joy of reconnecting with loved ones was unmistakable, but it can't compare to the gathering awaiting us as we pass from this life into the next-- that is, as long as we have given our hearts and lives to Jesus, God's only Son, none other than the Jesus of the Bible. His Word attests to this Truth over and over: there is only one way to guarantee an eternal future with Him in Paradise, and that is to believe in His one and only Son, turn from our sins, and accept His perfect sacrifice as an atonement for them.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6 NIV)
My friend, my brother, my sister, if you have never accepted the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for your sins, I implore you not to wait another second before doing just that. We are not guaranteed even the next breath, and make no mistake: only eternal suffering awaits those lost in their own sins, and we are ALL sinners in God's economy. But He loves us so much He made the ultimate sacrifice to put us in right relationship with Him. He provided Himself, the only Perfect Lamb, to die for our sins, great and small. All you have to do is repent and say "Yes!" And then imagine the glorious reunions that will never end!
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)
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This summer's reunions
(Photo credits:
Main- Phil Stith
Insert- Bill Tippett) |
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"He must increase and I must decrease."
John 3:30
