The Fellowship of Believers

So we have had the pleasure of hosting the Miller family this last week and we have one more to go. Some of you might question our sanity, for wanting to be together for so long. Eight people in the upstairs of our house. Honestly, I have to say, at the end of the first week, things are still going really well. It must be a testimony to the grace of the Lord- our children have not decided they hate each other and they are basically loving the time to play with someone else.

Of course, it has also gotten me thinking about the idea of real fellowship. What did biblical fellowship really look like? The Acts church gathered "together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14) Later it says that the Fellowship of the Believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer (Acts 2:42)." In the past week, we have assuredly "broken bread." We have eaten 3 loaves of bread, 6 gallons of milk, 2 large tubs of yogurt, and a variety of other things, we have watched teaching and the prayer room together during the day, and we have prayed. We have prayed through temper tantrums, no nap times, crying little ones, ear infections, and teeth coming in. And yet, the Father has been clearly present. The fellowship of the believers is so much more than simply gathering for a moment of time, or even a service, a meal, or a weekend. I have seen the Lord in our dear friends that I would not have seen given the short visit. It's the same vision I saw of the Lord in our friends the Chaneys, as they were heaving up the stomach virus we had given them. It's the same vision that I saw this summer, when our dear friends the Harpers were willing to come all the way to Arkansas to camp for two nights, with 9 children under the age of 4 and 8 parents- all to say a dear goodbye to our friends the Rupps. And it's the same testimony of the Father that I see when babies are born, houses are moved, and lives are turned upside down. Thank you, my dear friends for bringing the testimony of the Father's heart to mine.

p.s. How do you like the smiles my children are flashing these days?