So, it’s been a while since we had a blog post and it’s my turn this time to kick start things off with our new topic of the month: “family fun”. I find myself hugely blessed in this area as the Lord has given me not one, not two, but three distinct families. First up, we have my family in England who have shared the most memories and fun times with me in my life. Secondly, we have my wife’s family, who put the “family” in “family business”. They are my in-laws, which we have come to call “in-loves”. Thirdly, by God’s grace, my third family is His family. I have been redeemed from my life of sin and have been adopted into the family of God where He refers to me as a son… wow. So I’m going to give three distinct and fun memories I have shared with each of these three families.

Birth Family

So first up, my birth family, the ones who raised me. It’s hard to recount all the fun memories I have had with them. I was very fortunate as a child to have many many vacations. We would go away at least once a year, often times to exotic lands. I shared 26 Christmases with them and I will always treasure those times in my heart, there was nothing better than just spending the day with the whole family and then gathering around the table at night to play games. However these are not my favourite memories. My best will always be our trips to “Centre Parcs”. Even though this is a “trip” it is still something that can be done anytime. It was a lovely secluded place in the woods where you could be away from technology and spend time as the family, doing various activities like bowling, mini golf, swimming etc. By far my favourite times were with the family at Centre Parcs.

The In-Loves

Now we move on to family number two, “the family in-loves”. My time with these wonderful people, albeit fairly brief in reference to my birth family, has been very wonderful. I don’t have “A” memory as such but the thing I have enjoyed the most and treasure the most are just our day trips out. We are all very like minded and therefore we take enjoyment in similar things and even if it’s not something that “excites” us, we find joy in sharing that with each other. We have been to places like Solvang, Old Town San Diego, Temecula, and enjoy nice days out exploring new places. In about two months time, we will be heading up to the mountains to go camping for a week and if I were to write this blog entry at the end of October, I guarantee that will top my list! I am looking forward to spending time with and making many more fun family memories with them.

God’s Family

Thirdly, we have God’s family, which in a very real sense is the most important family. These are the people I will be spending eternity with but even more importantly these are the people that my own Saviour also died to save. The huge blessing of this family is… they are everywhere, if I’m in England, they’re there; in the US, there they are also; and even when we go on trips to somewhere like Romania, you guessed it, God’s family is there too, and one day just like the ultimate Christmas, the whole family will come together from far and wide and rejoice and worship God together. My favourite memory with this family is about four months ago. We had the huge blessing of having a “weekend away”… now I put that in quotations because for Elisabeth and I, we were only there for one day so it wasn’t a “weekend” and the event was held a whole seven minutes from our home so it wasn’t exactly “away” either. Nonetheless, the time was wonderful and we just enjoyed sweet fellowship and amazing teaching, I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world.

Join in the Family Fun!

So let me encourage you this summer to do something with your family. I know sometimes family tend to be the last people you want to do something with, but the times spent with them are so rewarding and cherishable. Whether it’s playing board games or just going to explore some new area near where you live, get up and go do something with these lovely people whom God has given you.