A "Wow" moment

Last week, we went to Texas to see family. It was an amazing trip, and it surpassed my expectations. All three of my siblings were there with their significant others. I got to meet my niece for the first time. There were four cousins who had a great time together ... except for the frequent times they were fighting over toys. There was a ladies' lunch that was really nice. I got to reconnect with my sister. There were many rousing games of "styroball" in the swimming pool. It was all so wonderful.

The night before Chad and I left was also the night before my sister and her husband and daughter were to return to their overseas post. So we had a prayer time with the adults who were still there (my brothers were already gone). We prayed for safety, patience in travel, etc. We all took a turn praying aloud. A couple of times during the prayer, I looked around at all the people around the table and just felt a wow moment. I thought, "Wow, this is really cool. What a blessing to be a member of this family, all of whom are Christian, are serious about their relationships to Christ, worship God through their lives, and strive to be righteous people." I can't really explain this, but I felt an extremely strong connection to those members of my family through Christ. It was like he truly was there in our midst (Matt 18:20), and we were communing through prayer, reaching a level of closeness that the average irreligious person is not able to experience. It was just such a neat moment of ... realization? ... appreciation? I don't even know what to call it, but it was wonderful and really moved me.