Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together as one! It is like the sweet-smelling oil that is poured over the high priest’s head, that runs down his beard flowing over his robes. It is like a gentle rain from Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion. It is there that the Lord has promised his blessing of eternal life. – Psalm 133

Here is one more quick post to share the final few pictures from the short but wonderful weekend with the grandchildren.

I was super-impressed with how David and Beks handled an entire morning at church. First and Second Grade, yet they managed to sit through two services as well as attend Sunday school in-between. They were polite, they paid attention, they followed along the best they could in the bulletin, and they behaved beautifully.

The opening picture features David and Beks waiting some more, in the church lobby, patiently watching their grandmamma hug a couple of hundred people.

The children “get” church:

David is especially adept at “passing the peace;” he will work hard the entire allotted time to connect with as many people as possible. Both children seem to understand on a deep level what church is all about, and they value intentional community so much that I have every confidence they will both grow up to (as new members of our congregation pledge) “Seek the fellowship of the church wherever [they] may be.”

This is what people are missing when they avoid church, or drop out, or let attendance slide, or never get involved to begin with (usually because they got the wrong impression about what following Jesus is all about), or watch some preacher on television instead of experiencing real community.

So I am thankful our grandchildren are getting an authentic experience, and that they understand what it means to be in a church family.

The World Needs This!

As brothers and sisters created in the image of God, we need each other. Just come: if enough of you do then – between us all – we might just be able to stop this world’s sad deterioration into discord and conflict (more on this in an upcoming post).

(Thanks to my friend George for snapping the family pic)

Peace – in every way – DEREK