Reunions

"Good morning," says Nathan in a cheery voice, "I beat you". This is my eight-year-old's newest game, to say good morning to me before I say it to him. We haven't been away from each other for long. We just slept in separate bedrooms and it seems I just saw him as time goes quickly when you sleep. But "good morning" is important. We are reunited each morning.

It is a small, but sacred reunion.


This happens for our family each evening, too. After the work and play of our day comes to an end, we have a reunion of sorts around the dining room table. We share a meal and share our experiences of the day.

It is a small, but sacred reunion.

Reunions take place every day. Parents pick up kids from school. Couples cuddle on the couch each evening. Sunday morning services draw church families together. Easter supper rounds up families members from all over. Puppies greet their owners with wagging tails at the door. Grandchildren Skype Grandma. Family reunions cause relatives to converge on a single location. Former classmates gather. Brothers hunt together each fall. Sisters scrapbook. Friends meet for dinner. They are all sacred reunions.

I was thinking about this the other day while I was at a funeral in Colorado. Although under sad circumstances, it was a reunion for our family and our former church family. Following the service, we spent the afternoon standing in clusters or sitting around circular tables nibbling on sandwiches and catching up on each other's lives. It was a blessing to hear what God was doing in the lives of our friends. There were hugs and smiles. There were tears and prayers. There were people holding hands and holding each other up. It was a small, but sacred reunion.

And although we were gathering together, we were there for a funeral, a time to say good-bye to our dear Jessie. God was praised for who He is and what He did in Jessie's life. Jesus was there; you could feel his Spirit.

All of these reunions remind me of heaven. For those who are born again believers in Christ, heaven will be one big reunion. There will be a feast. We will gather and share stories about what God did in our lives on earth. We will hug and smile and praise God together. But there will be no good-byes, no tears, and no need to hold each other up. Jesus is there. I personally am really looking forward to this. It will be a grandiose and sacred reunion.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Michael W. Smith in concert. He led us in worship and it felt like rehearsal for heaven. He played the song, Welcome Home and it reminded me of the reunion we will have one day.