Agape Centre

This past weekend, my sisters and brother met at our family mountain cottage located in central PA.  It's where our parents took us for summer trips, opening of deer hunting season, and other times during the year.  The cottage is actually a mobile home which our dad expanded into a cottage several years ago.  Dad gave up many weekends to make the two and a half our drive from his home in southern PA to make this a special place for us.

Nestled at the base of a mountain range, it is in the heart of Amish country.  Driving into the nearest little town early in the morning is a true gift of God as the sunrise is mixed with a little fog hovering just above beautiful and spacious farms in the valley.

Over the Labor Day weekend, the four of us and our families relived our mountain cottage traditions of playing uno, grilling out, enjoying campfires and smores, walking/running through mountain trails, playing horseshoes, and doing some needed repair work.

This picture is of the four of us in front of a sign mom and dad had made for the cottage.  They called it "Agape Centre" named after the biblical Greek word for love and the county where it's located.  Mom and dad always wanted this to be a place of encountering the presence of God and leaving renewed.

As I reflect on my trip this past weekend, I am reminded that every home, church, and location can be an "agape centre" where God's unconditional love is celebrated and we leave with a deeper sense of God's presence in our lives.

Think of each place you visit this week as an "agape centre."