Monieca and I spent an afternoon recently on Norris Lake in Tennessee with my brother and his wife. We were driving to another location for my study retreat when he called and invited us to join them for some fun and relaxation. Their location was about 45 minutes beyond where we were headed, which was already a four hour drive. It would take them over two hours to get there themselves, but we all decided to do it. After a few hours together, we all headed home. All of this meant Monieca and I drove an extra 90 minutes (after a four hour drive) and they drove nearly five hours round trip…so we could spend five hours together.

Some might think that’s a lot of driving for one afternoon with your brother. I look at it differently. We live in different states and only see each other a few times a year. All of us are getting older and have fewer years in front of us than behind us. When we have an opportunity to be together, we should take it. That’s what we did.

Maintaining connections with people in our lives takes effort. Whether we live in the same house, same city, same state…or different states, caring relationships don’t just happen. They take work. They take sacrifice. But it’s always worth it.

Too many marriages and families fall apart because people are not willing to go out of their way for the sake of the relationship.

I had a good study retreat. The Holy Spirit guided me as I worked on messages for next winter. I’ll review those messages with our creative team this week and we’ll all start making plans for next January, February and March. But the best part of the week was that afternoon with my brother and his wife.

Who do you need make time for?

Pastor Steve Hogg