I have been looking forward to this week for a long time. For most, it’s just another week, but for me, it is the week that some of my family will arrive in town. It was a little over five years ago when my mum and one of my brothers last came to the USA for Lisa’s and my wedding. This will be the first time they will all get to meet, hold, and love-on Zoey. To me, this is exciting and a long time anticipated. I will often joke about wanting to get away from family so much that I decided to move continents, but the truth is I love my family very much even when they might frustrate me or send me negative feelings. I genuinely don’t think we fully appreciate family until we don’t get to see them often. I remember the first time I had moved away from home and I got sick. I knew my family, my mum specifically, was too far away to look after me. I remember having a massive headache, feeling queasy, and having muscular aches all over. My housemates were playing their music as loud as they could to test out their new speakers. I remember rolling over in bed almost in tears because I just wanted “mum”. I have learned over time that no one can replace my mum. But as time goes on, you find people who you can rely on and go to in her stead. The church should be that family unit for anyone who shares the blood of Jesus in the death, burial, and resurrection of Baptism. The church is a family that I believe we should be excited about seeing at every opportunity possible. Don’t get me wrong, I know when people fall ill, have to work, or something else comes up, I know people need to be gone at times. I don’t think “forsaking the assembly” (Heb. 10:25) is the same as fulfilling other duties, but I believe the church needs to be such a place that we desire to be in each other’s lives, that we’re looking out for one another, that we know everybody’s hurts, joys, fears, weaknesses. How exciting would it be to get to meet the celebrity of your dreams or to see a long-lost friend or family member? This is the level of joy we should have about being in the family of God. To see each other, study and grow together, and to be mentored and mentors to the body we worship with. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Cor. 12:27) Peter Hunt