Getting older is not what it is cracked up to be!!!  For Bob and me it is not sailing the seas, flying to exotic places to vacation and pass the time as we slow down, nor is it lounging in a chair.  For us it has become flitting from place to place to visit family.  Can you understand?  We travel north and we travel south and west…not as much east!  It can vary from several hours to an entire day to get there, depending.  The aging bodies rebel big time!

Now, why is this important for us to do at this time in our lives?  Well, let’s say that the trips cost us gas money and some meals.  But the pay back to us is so much more.  Let us think of where the idea of families and friends has come from.  Let us turn to our Bibles. In Psalm 68:6 it says, “God sets the lonely in families.”  That speaks to me in many ways.

Our lives also often draw us to families other than our own biological ones which we continue to love and try to nurture all of our lives.  But, for now let us speak of our Christian family.

Over the years this family has nurtured me beyond my own.  It came to me as a lonely child seeking security, an uncertain teenager asking questions, a new mother searching for direction for my own children, one sharing happiness of grandchildren and most especially, one grieving the very loss of one of those precious children.  My church family has given me reasons to continue on many times when I might have been sad and lonely.

Our God in the wisdom that only God can possess, has given us the blessing of various kinds of families and we should all be so grateful.