God’s family is
amazing! Even though I grew up in a military family - moving fairly often and
living far away from aunts and uncles - family still always meant everyone
together. Old (I considered my parents at that time ‘old’ although they were
only mid-30’s) and everything in between. There was an age-range of 10 years
between us all as kids as well. Family is the group together. I love seeing how
family interacts and how this helps us grow.
Family is designed by
God and is exactly what we need to help us grow in faith. So it is great to see
activities that bring different age groups together to reinforce the idea of
family. Both young and old have examples right before their eyes, both groups
helping the other to stretch and grow. Young people get a vision of older
people who are serious, loving and who can also interact with young people.
They see how to live out faith in the lives of these ‘elders’. Older people are
challenged by the energy and desire of youth to be active, see things in a new
way, be daring and excited by the truth as it is discovered for the first time.
Every time we get the
opportunity to share in intergenerational activities, we encourage everyone to
take part. We also do our best to plan such activities. Recently we went to
Switzerland for a weekend. It’s a six hour drive for us and we only stay about
a day and a half, but it is well worth it. Church members from all over Europe
gather, young and old, to play soccer and have fun as children of the Lord.
We take the time to get
to know one another as best as possible, speaking several languages. We worship
the Lord together in at least three languages, singing praises as I imagine it will be in heaven. And we play soccer, learning how
to deal with frustration, play fair and be just, put things into perspective and
give your all. We see young people jumping every language and cultural barrier to get to know one another. Older members try to be a good example in fair play. And all of us see that it is possible to live this life with Christ, having a great time.
This past week I ran
down to our Bible camp facility – shared and maintained by the various
congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands, both Dutch-speaking and
French-speaking – to help with one of the work weekends.
Camp is another place
where family gets together. Yes, we encourage one another in our summer
sessions with Bible lessons and good teaching, placing an emphasis on our
knowledge of Christ. We also have every opportunity to observe this knowledge
in working as we shovel dirt, move rocks, try to explain how to get certain
jobs done, put up with having to do the cleaning that no one will see, face
tasks that are neither fun, nor glorious or easy and do all of this together.
Young observes older and ‘old’ (do we ever really get old?) and their example.
Old is encouraged by and observes the growth of young.
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| Photo thanks to Luk Brazle |
It is good to be
together. It is challenging and encouraging to incorporate this unique design –
intergenerational activities and learning. God calls it family.
For more pictures of the Swiss soccer tournament, check on facebook.
