Family

Last Saturday after bible study at C&C, I was shocked to hear the announcement that Larry would be leaving for Taiwan within a week or two.  I had always known it was a possibility that he would go back but never expected it to be so soon.  I was saddened by the news, as Larry has become an integral part of the fellowship over the past few years.  He is one of the quietest people I know.  Yet, his presence has always meant a lot to me.  He is always willing and ready to help out with whatever needs to be done, and never seeks much acknowledgment for his service.  He will definitely be missed.

We had little time to organize a going away party for Larry, so I decided to have people over at my place for dinner Thursday night.  It was also Eric's birthday on Wednesday, so I thought we could have a double celebration (for friendship, fellowship, and life!).  I noticed that once again we were having a good bye dinner and a birthday celebration on the same night (as with Julie and Larry, Jason and Andy).  Strange!

I was amazed that within a few days' notice, almost everyone who I invited could make it, there being 12 of us in total.  Dinner was quite a lot of work to get ready.  We had to defrost the frozen food,  wash and chop the vegetables, then open up all the packaged food and arrange them on plates, mix the sauce, set up the cooking pots, and bring out all the necessary bowls, chopsticks, forks, etc.  After everything was done being set-up and we were ready to start cooking the ingredients, all 12 of us tried really hard to squeeze in around my dinner table so that we could eat together.  It was a tricky task, but in the end, we didn't have to sit scattered, but together at the same table.  During dinner, each of us shared a little bit of what we wanted to say to Larry to send him off ton his next big adventures in Taiwan.  We also each said a few words to Eric the birthday boy (or man?)  After dinner, we had cake, then sang some songs together, hung out - it was a great night! 

Spending the night with these friends felt just like hanging out with family.  The atmosphere of the place was comfortable and relaxed, everybody was being themselves.  Throughout the night, there were various people in the kitchen helping with prepping and cleaning, people playing songs and hymns on the piano, people sitting at the table talking.  I spent a while washing some dishes and pots after dinner, and it was nice to hear the background noises of my kids hanging out, building relationships with each other.  We were a bunch of kids between the age of 18 and 30, and yet we were able to break bread together, sing praises together, laugh together, and cry together.  Truly, these people are the closest thing to being my family next to my own immediate one.  I thought, "I am, we are, so truly blessed to have these brothers and sisters in Christ, brought together by nothing else other than God's love."  The feeling I feel towards them is hard to put down in words, but it is a certain closeness that is completely unpretentious.  Well, it really brings me back to one word - family.  They are my brothers, and sisters.  God is so good to provide us with a Family, and I feel so grateful to have them in my life.