Back from Northern Ireland, with a grateful heart

We arrived home last night from two weeks away in Northern Ireland, visiting with Emma’s family. The time difference between Pepperell and Belfast is five hours, so right now my heart is full of thankfulness to God but my head is a bit hazy and unclear from jet lag!

Here are a few things from the past two weeks for which I’m really grateful to God:

- Family time. Emma, Samuel, Annie and I had some sweet times together. We went to a big museum with massive old trains the kids could climb on, and we went to an indoor playpark the kids loved. We had family devotions a number of mornings, and we spent a lot of time just hanging out. It was good time together.

- Time with friends. I’m really thankful to have gotten away for a few days with our dear friends Paul and Caroline Mathole and Paul and Gill Jump. Both couples are in full-time vocational ministry and long-time friends. So, it was especially rich to have extended time reflecting on ministry, family, marriage, and life. Paul, Paul and I stayed up until midnight one night talking about preaching. A lot of time was just laughing together, too. It was deeply refreshing.

- God’s beautiful creation. We got a couple days up on the North Coast of Northern Ireland, staying at the cottage of some friends, and the beauty of God’s creation again astounded me. Emma and I woke one morning and walked a mile from the cottage, down a hill and through a little village, to a harbor on the sea. The sun was rising, the grass was green, the sheep were grazing, the wind was blowing, we could see the cliffs towering over the sea. God made all this! We thought together about how this staggering beauty was all just a hint, a foretaste, of the new creation.

- Times in God’s Word. I always struggle on vacation to be consistent in spending time in God’s Word and God helped me to be more consistent this year. I give him praise for that and for the good things he was showing me as I read the Gospel of Mark in the mornings.

- Grace for lack of sleep. Being jet-lagged is one thing. Having two jet-lagged little kids is another. There were a number of nights where we didn’t get the kind of sleep we were longing for, but God gave us enough energy during the days. He’s very kind that way, to help us in our weakness.

- Worshiping Jesus in another country. It’s always a privilege to attend other churches while we’re away on vacation because it enlarges our views of God. He’s bigger than PCF! He is worshiped in other churches with other traditions and other music and other approaches. That’s always encouraging. But as encouraging is when we see what we have in common! In the churches we attended the Word of God was handled with reverence and faithfulness and care, there was love among the people of the congregation, the Lord’s Supper was beautifully introduced and taken, and Christ was honored. That’s so deeply encouraging to see.

- A remarkable wife. Being with my wife as she interacted with her family and friends, encouraged other people, flawlessly adapted to driving a car on the other side of the road for two weeks, and generously watched the kids so I would have time to work on some of my projects, I was again very thankful to God for such a wife. Last night in the airport I was standing by the luggage belt waiting for our luggage to come off, and I looked over at Emma across the room. We’ve just come off a long flight with two kids and I know Emma is feeling jet-lagged and a bit sick and sad about leaving home. But she’s standing there with our two kids, with a smile on her face, talking to a woman we met on the plane. And I was once again thankful to God for such a wife. I love spending time with her.

God is good. He gives us vacations to refresh us for the work he calls us to. So it feels good now to transition back to our lives and ministry in Pepperell.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Jan 24, 11:06 AM