Years ago, on one of
our home assignments, sitting in the airport of some city in the United States,
a man sitting next to us began talking to the boys (they were quite young at
the time). Stephan turned to us and asked: “Do we know him too?” We had been
meeting with and getting to know so many new people on our trip, and even
family was new for Stephan and Sean. As far as Stephan was concerned, this
too could be family.
That is one of the
blessings of God’s family – that we can be at home in so many different places.
And we have so enjoyed seeing so much family – blood relatives and spiritual
family – on our travels. But as we drove away from Muscatine and through
Indiana, we knew we were headed to Ohio, where we would be meeting another sort
of family. We were soon to meet the in-laws and become the in-laws for the
first time. Although we had talked with Natalie on Skype and had briefly talked
to her parents as well, this was to be the time to meet the whole family. And
what a blessing it was!
We were able to stay at
Jay and Pauline’s while Sean, Wouter and Marc (when they arrived on the
Thursday) stayed at Natalie’s grandparent’s house (John and Fran). We were
taken up in the family – which meant being able to help out making cake pops,
making our own coffee when needed, sharing the Christmas concert of Natalie’s
youngest sister, Rachel, working toegtehr to get everything ready for the
wedding – it was a real pleasure and a blessing to be together. We are so
thankful for Natalie and her family – our family!
Our time in Ohio was
filled with moments like this. Sean and his best friend, Wouer, and Wouter’s
father, Marc, had spent five days in New York City before arriving for the
wedding. Marc and Wouter had never been to the States before and were welcomed
with open arms by so many people. They arrived in the middle of the
preparations for the wedding, helped out moving chairs, cleaning up, blowing
bubbles. They attended worship services with us on Sunday as well. They were
surrounded by people all around welcoming them. John and Fran shared stories of
Egypt with them, we played ping-pong in the garage with the gathered family,
and made one huge family.
It was great for us to
also be able to meet up with Scott’s Mom who has moved back to New York to be
with Paul Drushler. This was the first time for us to meet Paul (and he us, of
course). It was great for them to have made the trip to share this time with us
and with Stephan and Natalie.
After the wedding we
had planned on driving over to Indiana, but Shirley was hit by a bout of
dizzyness and a migraine, so instead we spent some more family time. This was
exactly what we all needed after such a wonderfully busy time – a day to wind
down. A trip and walk to Maumee Bay on Lake Erie, the sun shining even as the
cold wind blew, reinforced us as a new family, caring for one another. We are
so thankful for the love that comes in God’s family.
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