Fellowship

One thing our church does really well is to fellowship together. It is such a neat way to grow close to one another, share with one another, bear each others burdens, well, you get the idea. We also love to include others in our fun.

This year we hosted our now annual Fall Fest at our home on October 31st. Reformation Day - the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the door of the Wittenburg church. This lead to a huge change in the way believers had access to the scriptures etc...

We hold a bonfire and roast hot dogs, marshmallows and sticks! hee hee

We started out the afternoon with everyone checking out the barn. It needs the doors, interior walls to separate the stalls, and the trim...it really looks good.

The boys all had a good time eating candy and having sword fights. Until the soccer game started!

Here Tim and a couple of good friends are chatting about the barn. They are standing by the fire - can you see the smoke?

We cooked hot dogs and shared a good meal together. The dads played soccer with the kids, even the little ones got to play!

It started to rain so I headed inside and found that most of the adults were already inside and having great conversations. Our pastor Mike was sitting on the couch and grinning. Someone asked him which conversation he was listening to, he pointed to all of them! He was loving the interaction. The great thing about being a part of a family integrated church is that not only families are there. There are singles, teens whose families don't come to church, marrieds with grown children, widows. Everyone is brought into the family and are important to the whole body.

That night a family of friends from church who live 45 minutes away from church stayed the night, so they wouldn't have to drive home that night and turn around and come back the next morning. Also we thought it would be great fun! It was. Amazingly we all got up and ready for church, ate breakfast and got to Sunday School on time! This was inspite of Kelly and I prepping for our fellowship meal at church and the time change!

After church we headed home and several families joined us. Another fire and marshmallows...swords for little boys made by Lindsay,

Little boys having adventures in the woods,

Passing around the baby...

Sitting by the fire into the evening,

Watching the moon come up.

We went inside for coffee and tea - much talk and encouragement was shared. It bonds our hearts together.

Today the teens in the church are going to do yard work at a couple's home from our congregation. The husband recently had neck surgery and his wife had knee replacement this year. When told that the young people were coming to do this the wife cried. When she was told that we would be providing dinner, she cried even more. It is the body caring for one another.

It's a beautiful thing.