Varina Petaisto | The Voice of Zion September 2024 - Home & Family Article --
Like boughs that bear abundance when firmly on the tree, as people we’re created to with each other be. – SHZ 420
We recently made a cross-country move to Colorado. Before settling here, we spent five months traveling the east coast of the United States. After that time on our own, we felt welcomed and a sense of joy to belong in a congregation again. We have felt the blessings in attending the planned activities of the congregation. We have also experienced much joy in visiting with our believing escorts of all ages; whether in their homes, or ours.
There have often been opportunities to enjoy nature with others, camping, mountain biking, skiing or some other activity. In these ways we have developed friendships and connections with our brothers and sisters in faith in this congregation.
To experience this connectedness, we found it is important to reach out to others, and to respond when others reach out to us whether it be to visit or to help in some way.
Through visiting at various functions, we can get to know fellow believers from the heart. We share life’s experiences, questions, joys, sorrows, and most importantly, we can be uplifted on our journey of faith. We have found when others have shared their life’s experiences, and we gain insight and strength for our own endeavor. Hearing others share has also given us the strength to visit about our own trials and experiences. When we feel connected to our journey friends, we are then able to reach out in times of trial to lean on our travel escorts, and we feel the freedom to help others who are experiencing times of trial. Apostle Paul writes, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).
Connect with Those Far Away
We also connect with our dear ones who live far away. We use messaging platforms to share photos with family and friends, as well as video chats to feel even closer when we can’t visit in person. We need to find a balance between catching up virtually and enjoying the present moment with those who are physically around us. One way we have used technology to connect is through story hour, where our kids meet with their cousins on a Zoom meeting hosted by aunt Natasha. This has been such a fun way to connect with cousins, and to enjoy a story read by a dear aunt who now lives far from us.
In this time of digital connectedness, it has been a blessing to be able to stay connected with our family and friends who live far away. We have also felt the importance of forming friendships with those in our home congregation who share our everyday life and experiences. Most importantly, we share the gift of the Holy Spirit, which unifies us in faith.
Staying Connected in God’s Kingdom
John Waaraniemi
When I was asked to write an article on how I stay connected in God’s kingdom, I first wanted to say no. But after thinking about it, I realized that other than at church and living at my cousin’s place, I find myself not doing much with other believers. Maybe that’s the reason I was asked.
In my congregation there are no other single guys my age – all my friends are married with children. Generally, I stay home or go and do my own thing. It seems that the older I get, the timider I am to reach out to others for visits, most always waiting for invitations from others.
Quite often I get in the mindset that nobody wants an older single person like me over. Sometimes, feeling alone in crowds, I find myself skipping out on other church activities like graduation parties and weddings. I am fortunate to work for a company where most of the employees are believers and during the week I’m not completely away from believers.
I find it important to get to services and have fellowship there as well as connecting with family and friends back home in Minnesota. Although I’m not as socially active as others, I enjoy smaller group activities and value my believing escorts.
Contacts on My Pathway
Paula Petaisto
I am in the kitchen preparing a meal for friends who want to participate in a fundraiser for the Colorado congregation. At the same time, I am connected to the Oulu Cathedral by a virtual connection, listening to an evening of singing for the upcoming 2024 Suviseurat in Pudasjärvi, Finland. The cathedral is packed to full capacity. Not everyone who wanted to attend was able to get inside. A beloved brother in faith is describing the event. The motto of Pudasjärvi services causes one to pause and ponder. It asks, “Do you love me?” It is Jesus’ question, and it touches each one of us. It is a timely question. What is my answer?
We moved to Colorado about three years ago so that we could be closer to our grandchildren. A child does not doubt that Jesus loves her or him. Even this very day, as we were eating breakfast, the little two-year-old blurted out: “Let’s sing ‘Jesus Loves Me.’” A child is an example of faith to us. She trusts that mother, or even grandma, will take care of her. Eyes sparkling, she meaningfully sings: “Yes, Jesus loves me.”
Jesus loves every one of us. But do I want to accept His love? Do I regard my sisters and brothers in faith as being important in my life? According to the Bible the fruits of the Holy Spirit are, among other things, love, joy and peace. By faith I understand that I need escorts on my pathway. Even though we are different, here on the narrow path of striving onward we have the same goal. We want to follow Jesus, to listen to and hearken to His Shepherd voice in the kingdom of God. We are not alone. We need one another so that only heaven would be visible.
During my life, I have dwelled in many localities and in congregations of varying sizes, alone and together. When we lived at the lonely watchman’s outpost in California during the latter part of the 1990s, I thought then that it would be good for every believer to experience this situation in life where dear journey friends and escorts are far away. By this I mean how connection to other friends living in remote outposts became so important. What precious moments we experienced when after a three-hour drive we were able to gather with friends in their home for home services! The proximity of friends in faith is not to be taken for granted.
I am grateful that God has preserved me as His child and led me by the hand unto this very day. This connection with friends in faith is best when, during our conversations, we can sense that we share the same understanding of faith and the unity of the Spirit. This is an incomprehensible gift, regardless of whether we are near or distant from each other.
Encouraged among Brethren
Elle Wittenberg
I remember the dark, heavy air of that night. The suffocating weight of loss. She stood before me, but I knew that she was gone. The connection that had bound us together so tightly was severed, as though slashed in two. I held her almost as desperately as I wished to let her go. How could someone I loved so completely be so lost?
For a long while the ground beneath me felt as though it were made of sand. My vision blurred as I waited to receive communion. I shook from the effort to stand, to continue along the line. A wave of sorrow loomed, threatening to engulf me. And then he was there, unwavering, reaching for my drowning soul. My brother’s arms wrapped around my form and the words flowed over me, “You can believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus’ name and precious blood.” All was still.
Now I see that God allowed for certain connections to change or be lost altogether, yet I can see what truly matters. It can be difficult to lose a friend to the world, and to forget the beauty and surety found in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that also teaches us to keep hope and love for those lost ones. Though we feel pain and loss, it is important to remember to turn to God’s Word found in His kingdom. Remarkably, even without speaking, we may feel the bond unlike anything this world has to offer. I am comforted as I remember Romans 1:12, “You will be encouraged amongst brethren.” As we continue to haltingly reach out a hand to our escorts in faith, that distant, glowing heaven draws us ever closer.
Discussion Questions
How do you balance all the connections in your life, both with those around you and those farther away?
Tell about a time in your life when you have especially needed connections with other believers.
How does the ease of forming new connections shift through the ages and stages of life?
What changes when one you’ve connected with loses their faith?
How can we support those that are new to our area or who appear to be alone or lonely at services?
Ponder the words of song of Zion 433, verse 4. What do they say about a believer’s longing for connection?
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