We are all in God's Family

 

On June 7th during worship service we celebrated the sacraments of Baptism and Communion.  Both are wonderful symbols and reminders that we are all invited to God's table and are God's family.  It was a very special day! 

 

During the Time for Children, I shared the true story of Owen and Mzee -a hippo and tortoise - that show us that families come in many different shapes and sizes and that God welcomes us all.

 

The story is about a baby hippopotamus, named Owen by rescue workers. The hippo was swept down a river and into the ocean when a tsunami struck. Owen was tossed back to shore by waves and landed on the coast of Kenya in Africa. He was rescued him and taken to a wildlife shelter where he was adopted by a one hundred year old tortoise that acted as his mother.

 

Baby hippos like to be with and play with their mothers until they are about four years old. These two, the hippo and the tortoise, although very different from each other, became fast friends that eat, sleep and swim together. They became a family.  Baptism welcomes people into our church family  - just like Mzee adopted Owen. Communion invites all to God's table to remember his love for us and reminds us that being part of God's family means loving and caring for others.

 

You can check out the following books at the library for more about the story of Owen and Mzee:

 

Here is the first part of a documentary I found on You Tube- Enjoy!