The last 2 weekends have been a reminiscing rollercoaster. One we’d been looking forward to for months, one you wish you never have to face.
The first was a reunion of our youth group we led in Whitley Bay 20 years ago. It was fantastic with most of our core crew showing up.
The afternoon was filled with tales of children and parents, houses and moves, successes and sadnesses and re-telling the tales of days gone by when we were slimmer and had more hair (to be fair, that was mainly me, actually). It was also that scary mix of tales that I’d happily forgotten over the years, coming back to haunt with photographic evidence (and in one notorious case of me starring in the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat, video evidence!)
This place was where Lesley and I ‘cut our teeth’ in ministry and youth work. We made our best mistakes with that group and (in the days before health and safety really kicked in) had some of our most reckless fun. For many that had allowed grown-up-hood to creep up on them it was a very warm reminder of the way life was and should be.
Spiritually, the end of our time in Whitley Bay had been a sadness that has lived with me for years, as we saw many of that group strong in faith, gradually drift away or dramatically run from God after we left. But 15 years sometimes makes a lot of difference in eternity, and hearing the tales of those that had found their way back again, warmed the heart more than anything else. There’s still more to go. Do pray for the prodigals.
The second weekend was the memorial service of a friend of ours, a peer from Lesley’s Church youth group, who was killed in a car crash last month. After many years of loosing touch, we had just reconnected with Stephen at his brother’s wedding in the summer, only to be tragically disconnected from him last month until we meet him again one day.
Although the circumstances and primary emotions were completely opposite, the experience was remarkably similar. Familiar, but older faces, stories and recollections being shared for the first time in years. It was a gathering of the scattered Clan coming back together to mourn and celebrate. It was highly significant to hold it on Remembrance Day. Stephen was a passionate history teacher with a special fondness for the war years, so coming together to remember him on this Remembrance Day was very special.
I am very thankful to God for these people he has put in our lives. Looking back on who we have become over the years has reminded me again how much God has used these people to shape that journey and shape me. I find myself unusually overwhelmed by God’s grace in the quality of people he has surrounded me with over the years. It’s a funny thing to forget how much you miss someone until you see them.
