Another month has come and gone! How are these days so long and these months so short? Time just doesn’t make sense to me… Anyway, this month I had a visit from my brother Jared and his family! I have been looking forward to hanging out with them and doing some exploring. We were going to try and make it over to Crater Lake and then go around and see the different towns and stuff around Medford. Unfortunately when Jared and his crew arrived they were tired, sick, and ready to rest. My expectations for our time together were not fully met. We spent some great time together at my home and they got a chance to recuperate from their journey. We just spent time together in the living room, relaxing on the couches and watching movies for the first day they were here. It was so nice.

We had planned to do a lot of things and go see some different places but what we ended up doing was just resting together. That was better than anything I could have planned. Sometimes that is the best thing we can do together. Be a place of rest for each other during our long journey. It wasn’t really easy having a bunch of sick people in my house or having little packing peanuts end up scattered around my house! But to have a full home with a full heart is worth the mess of being with other people. Sometimes it is frustrating to have to deal with their junk in addition to our own but it is absolutely worth it. To have their smiles, to have their laughter, to be able to joke and catch up with them; the chance to just take a break, together, from all the wild adventures that we go on is something that shouldn’t be passed over.

This same kind of resting together is what I love about the church. We come together to rest and relax after a long week and find space to laugh and learn about how each one has been over the course of the intervening time. We have this space that is safe and is home for us. In coming together to rest (even with the mess each one brings) we find ourselves more connected as a family, as the Body of Christ here in Medford. Our journey together needs little breaks and time, to simply be with one another and remember each other before the Lord. What a blessing to be part of this family of God!