Peace on the Farm

I spent this past weekend on my grandparents farm. I went up because of the Black Swamp Benefit which helps support MCC. I saw a few relatives and lots of beautiful quilts. I learned a little more about MCC and observed a community where everyone knows virtually everyone else.
I spent the next morning with my three cousins ages 3, 8, and 11; and my grandparents. We picked strawberries and cleaned up around the new construction at my cousins house. On Sunday my eleven year old cousin sang a duet in church showing a talent I didn't know she had. Old hymns sung with only voices were a pleasant respite from the overused praise choruses found in most contemporary churches. I was able to sing one song in German while the congregation sang in English and then we sang In Christ there is no East or West. We are all connected in Christ despite language and cultural differences. The hymns were fitting as both the sermon and the Sunday School hour were taught by MCC representatives. One from the advocacy office in Washington and the other from a young man from Swaiziland.
For lunch we headed to the Pettisville school where my Grandpa attended and graduated, then my mom and her siblings attended and graduated from, and where my cousins now go and will someday graduate from. We were there for a benifit lunch for one of Pettisville's students who was having health problems. We ate in the gym where my mother was on the homecoming court and as we left saw her senior picture hanging with the other members of her class in the old hallway.
Now, no summer trip to the farm is complete without some time in the pond. And sure enough I spent Sunday afternoon on the old cracking foam raft in the pond with my 19 year old cousin and my 11 and 8 year old cousins. Four years ago you would have found the four of us there but this time the 11 and 8 year old had decided they were old enough to push me off the raft and for them to be pushed off as well. And just like summers back in high school, when we were done swimming the four of us loaded up on the gator to head to the woods in search of blackberries to put on homemade ice cream. It was a peaceful and restful Sunday and I was reluctant to leave.
This may be a long description of my weekend that means little to anyone but me :). But my point is not to describe the events but to allude to the love of Christ that is found when we gather together. To show a love that lasts as we grow older, that ties generations together, that ties cultures together. To show that it is in the moments of simplicity and quietness that we are reminded of God's calling us and the response we have given. As my past, my present, and
my future met I found that God is speaking and I desire to listen.