Dear Harpeth Hills Family,

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank our God every time we remember you. In all our prayers for all of you, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:2-6

Does your extended family still do family reunions? If you are old enough, or if your family still gathers every so often, you know what a wonderfully awkward time they can be:

“Honey, you look just like your mama/daddy.”
“Don’t you want another slice of pie?”
“Come over here and give Aunt Petunia a big ole’ hug!”
“Do you all remember that one time when…”
“One more piece of cake won’t hurt you.”
“Sweetie, have you put on weight since last year?”

Whatever the reunion might have looked like for your family, as wonderful as they were, sometimes they might have gotten a little, well, too familiar. Same people. Same stories. Same food. We might have taken family for granted because, well, they were family.

Do you think Paul did reunions? Do you think Paul would have left Rome and attended a reunion in his hometown if he could have? Absolutely! You can hear the joy, but also sense the longing for his brothers and sisters as he penned the opening lines of the Philippian letter. That would have been a very sweet reunion.

Our next reunion is going to be something special. We’re making plans now for the time when some of us, and then all of us, can be together again. How incredible it will be! And, if some of those questions and opportunities and gatherings were taken for granted before…it is doubtful they will be again.

We miss you. We love you. We can’t wait to see you.

Your Shepherds