Family Resemblance



Some day our digital photos
will look just as quaint!

 Last week I spent time with members of my extended family, some of whom I had not seen for a number of years. We were gathered to memorialize the life of an elderly aunt who died the previous weekend. Although we felt the loss, our being together again was like her parting gift to us. We laughed and hugged, shared pictures and memories, and ate and sang, all the while being aware of how much she herself would have enjoyed this family celebration!

I was struck by the family resemblance I see on the faces of my cousins, now that they mature. They actually look more like their fathers or uncles than they look like each other. And they tell me too, that now I look like my mother whose features are clearly seen in our other aunts. Indeed, we do look like the family we belong to!

I wonder if that is true of us as Christians? As we mature, do we look more like the family of God? Do our lives bear resemblance to our Elder Brother and to the Father Himself? He would be so pleased!
 
MaryMartha
 
Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Reunion

I have just returned from the biennial reunion of my extended family, three generations who are direct descendants of my parents. We had the use of a six bedroom home on lake property in this area. What a time we had! We prepared our own meals in the well-equipped kitchen. Even though we did not assign duties, certain fellows just took it upon themselves to empty and refill ice trays, bring in the newspapers and mail for the host family, empty the trash and carry out the "compostables," and make grocery runs. (We did try to keep most everyone out of the kitchen most of the time where we prepared some food favorites! Stir, stir, chop, chop, chop. Bake, blend, and freeze.) Sisters, sisters-in-law, granddaughters and nieces loaded and unloaded the dishwasher many, many times. All the while we laughed and talked, sang, cried, reminisced and planned.

It occurred to me a number of times during this happy occasion that if a family reunion is so joyful, what will it be like when we all are gathered together and never have to say our goodbyes again? While there are many details about heaven that are not clear to us while we live here, we will "know fully, even as we are now fully known." We'll not be separated by time and distance and schedules and circumstances. What a day that will be!

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/