Friends in God's house

My good friends Mike and Kim came to church this morning. I not only grew up with Mike, but I married him and Kim back in 1985 shortly after I came to Norwich. It was so nice to have them with us in worship.

We spent the last few days catching up. They were here for the Bacon Academy Anniversary Reunion. We met at Harry's Place in Colchester on Saturday afternoon and then spent the night at the Uncas Ballroom at the reunion. Today in worship marked the end of a great weekend together. They left church and headed north for a visit with their son in Boston.

Many of us separate our every day lives from worship. We have our friends. We have our work. We have our family and our fun. Then we have church. I'll never forget a story I heard many years ago about one of the saints of our church. Louise Strouse had three boys at home and she was what we would call a professional homemaker long before it became politically correct to do so. She cooked, cleaned and was the perfect hostess.

Louise also was devoted worker at church. She spent countless hours serving in various capacities. She taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, was the Chairman of the Executive Council, the secretary of the Diaconate and President of the Women's Guild. She probably logged in more hours than most of the ministers did when she was in her prime. The story goes that one night she was here with her youngest son working in the kitchen. At the end of the night she told the six year old that he had to get his things because they were going home. He looked at her with a puzzled look on her face and said, "Home? What do you mean? This is our home."

I'm not advocating any of us spend our lives at the church but I do believe that when we integrate our home and our faith we will be blessed. It is like adding frosting to the cake. The church has been compared to a family. In good churches many of us do invite our friends and family to participate. We let it be known that this is important to us. They may not come to everything, bu in order to be with us they will com to some things.

I think that is what made today so special with having Mike and Kim join us. I love Mike like a brother and we have shared so many good times together. Having him in church allowed us to add one more special moment to the many memories we share. I'll never forget their wedding. Our worlds came together. Today it happened again.