Church Camp

We had a great church camp over the weekend. I have felt like my church is my family (not to the exclusion of my blood relatives) until now, but I feel like that even more so now. It feels very much like my extended family on my dad's side, and reminds me that both those writing Scripture & those to whom the letters in the NT were sent were in cultures with extended families. We in our Western society with it's mum, dad & 2 children (& increasingly single parent families) don't get the full meaning of what the NT writers meant when they talked about church as a family. On my dad's side I don't have dinner every night with thousands of my relatives (one of my relatives had 3000 people at her wedding & there were 800 people at one first cousin's wedding I attended), but they're still there, wishing you well and helping you out when the opportunity arises. As one friend of mine SMSed to me once, "Friends are like stars - they're not always seen but they're always there." They're always shining on us even when we can't see them, & so it is with family & church.

Unfortunately I got a bit of a cold on Friday so I wasn't at my best for the camp, although if someone is not at their best when they're tired it's not often (& previously rarely) that I am at my best. I believe I set a new record for Gracepoint snoring on Friday night, although apparently it was quite musical & I hit harmonic fiths. At least 2 people were cracking themselves up laughing at the sounds I was making. I'd rather make people laugh than grumble at their loss of sleep. Saturday we had all the supposedly big snorers together but it was a very quiet night.

Saturday afternoon I was in a bad mood & feeling pretty angry at God & a friend listened patiently & let me do a bit of venting. It was one of the things where I realised I really am part of a big extended family at Gracepoint. Although I know this person quite well it made me realise I have this huge body of people I can turn to and lean on a bit when I need help, not just a handful of close friends. Sunday afternoon a couple who lead a housechurch who I don't know very well spent ages listening to the story of my CFS & family history & then praying for me. During the course of the weekend I ended up feeling much closer to a lot of people I hadn't really had much to do with & whom I might not get all that much opportunity to have a lot to do with, but whom are nevertheless part of my big extended family, such as the youth.

Blessings,
Joe :-)