Refreshing Rest

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In the last verses of Romans 15, Paul asked the Romans to pray with him. He expressed specific prayer requests, including this one:

“. . . so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God
and find refreshing rest in your company.”
Romans 15:32

Yesterday was a day of refreshing rest in the company of old friends. For many years now, we have received Christmas greetings from Helen, a sweet sister who was already a widow when our family moved to Illinois in 1985 for Ray to preach there. Because of the reality that we now live in Tennessee and she in Minnesota, Helen mentioned in her last letter that she probably wouldn’t see us again until heaven.

Ray and I were sad to think of that and he decided we should do something about it. He found out that the home she shares with her daughter and son-in-law is near the route we would be taking when we went home from the Duluth homeschool convention. Ray contacted Helen and we all three began happy anticipation.

The idea of stopping to see Helen made us think about Kris and Tina, other friends we knew in Illinois. Ray performed their wedding ceremony twenty-two years ago and now they also live in Minnesota along with their three daughters. We decided to make it a full Sunday afternoon and evening and visit them, too.

Our first afternoon stop was at the home of Kris and Tina, who enjoyed seeing John and meeting his family. It felt funny to hear them talk about how our thirty-five-year-old son had changed from when they last saw him as a young teenager! We just missed Kris and Tina’s eighteen-year-old who had gone to work, but we got to meet two of their three daughters. It was nice to meet girls we had watched grow up in their annual Christmas photos.

Kris and Tina made us a wonderful meal. While John settled Audra and Henry into the hotel for Henry’s afternoon nap, Kris and Tina told us of their spiritual journey. They are thriving. We left just before their church small group arrived for their weekly gathering at their house.

John came back in time for us to go to Helen’s. This time John heard how tall he had grown–not something you hear a lot when you have a family of your own! We got a tour of Helen’s mother-in-law apartment, filled with memories of eighty-four years. We looked at the generations of family photos on the wall.

Helen’s daughter Pat had made us a wonderful supper, though she, her husband Vince, and Helen had already hosted their small group that afternoon. We learned about their church where Vince serves as an elder, about his work as a chemist, and about Pat’s work as one of the people who receives calls from people experiencing a power outage. Does she ever have some funny stories, such as the one about the man who arrived home with his family and called the power company wondering how he was going to get into his house since his power was out and his garage door wouldn’t open! Pat asked him if he had a key. Uh, he hadn’t thought of that!

After supper, John retrieved Audra and a well-rested Henry from the hotel and they joined us for an evening of shared laughter and conversation. Helen told me how much she used to enjoy the way Ray preached–not yelling at her, but as if he was just talking to her personally.

For I have come to have
much joy and comfort in your love,
because the hearts of the saints
have been refreshed through you, brother.
Philemon 7

It takes more than just mamas and daddies to rear children. Children need grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They need relationships with godly people outside their families. They need to know that others share the values of their parents. They need to feel the love of others and see their godly examples. And parents need their parents, sisters, brothers, and other godly adults as mentors to help them learn how to be better parents, too.

On Sunday Ray, John, Audra, Henry, and I found refreshing rest in the company of fellow believers. I’m thankful that we got to do it this side of heaven.

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