Reunions. Made in heaven.

After our lightning 10-day trip to California, I thought about the wonder and joy of reunion. Why is it such wonderful thing? Why do we love stories where people who have been separated are united at the end? Why does the reunion of biblical Joseph and his brothers make us cry no matter how many times we read it? Why do we love to hear about families reunited? Recently some friends of ours told about the miraculous reunion of an adopted daughter with a brother she thought she'd never see. It brought tears to our eyes.

So our California trip ended up being something like that. And I never anticipated the joy. I have two uncles who live in San Diego. We didn't see them much growing up for that reason. But we had times with them "exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think"! Good visiting times, good sightseeing times, good sharing times. We saw two of their sons as well. Reunions that brought joy and tears as well as "Are you really my cousin?"

Second reunion was with our good friends, the Theurers, who were in Italy with us. We had a lovely, though unusually chilly, time in their cabin at Mission Springs near Santa Cruz. Wow, the redwood trees were amazing. And we just picked up where we left off in our relationship. Very nice and comfortable to have friends like that.

San Francisco was amazing! We met up with a cousin there that I hadn't seen in living memory since he is several years older than I am. :) He was very anxious to meet up and kept after us to fit him in to our schedule. We did and are we ever glad. Hugs.Laughter. Joking. Talk about family memories. He had sharper ones about family gatherings, and I learned things. Spent an evening and a night with him and a friend. His brother came for the evening. Another reunion. I don't remember when I last saw him, either. But it was a really fun evening that went late. And we're so glad for the memories.

Finally, we visited an aunt and another cousin in the central valley. April is perfect for going there! Not too hot and everything is beautiful and green. My cousin and her husband took us to Sonora and Columbia to see that side of old California. Great weekend with them! Good food and a good visit with both my aunt and my cousin. My aunt is 84 so it was particularly sweet to spend some time with her.

God gives us glimpses, occasionally, of what our reunion with Christ will be like. If this is just a shadow, our heavenly reunion will be beyond all imagination!

P.S. Someone needs to show me how to place photos in the text. I realize now why I don't blog with photos much! Nothing matches the text, and they all jumped around when I tried to move them! You got the idea, I hope!