I think the best part was just being able to spend time with my church family. In the busyness of life when it's hard to grasp even a few hours together in an average week, it was such a treat to spend the best part of two days together; just getting to know each other better, having fun and really being a family. We shared meals, we served together by cooking & washing-up, we played games together and some of us went out for coffee or for a walk together. It was so lovely just to look around and see people chatting together, playing games, laughing together and to see people helping out with other people's children – spending time with them, entertaining them and looking after them. One of the main things which struck me from the great teaching we had from John's gospel was the sheer importance of LOVE and UNITY within a church family and I felt a lot of that over the weekend – spending time with people who share your faith in Jesus and are also trying to live it out. It was so encouraging to be able to praise God together, to pray and discuss how God's challenging us together.
This weekend helped me to look forward to heaven! I was thinking about how brilliant the weekend was and how I'd LOVE it to be like that all the time. It is a bit of a disappointment to think about going back to work tomorrow, it was sad that the weekend had to come to an end! I can definitely see how Christians can be tempted to live in a Christian bubble – how much easier and comfortable that would be! BUT God hasn't called us to an easy and comfy life! He wants us to live in the wider world, to face up to how tough life can be in this fallen world, to reach people for Him and show others what He is like. Time together this weekend has really equipped me for this week to come.
It was like a little glimpse of heaven, where all of those who trust Jesus, all of God's people, will be there, truly united, praising God and enjoying His company and enjoying the company of other believers, and we'll never have that Monday morning feeling again! How truly amazing that will be!
