This scripture from the second chapter of the book of Acts provides us with a snapshot of what life in the early church looked like; a first-century illustration of the family of believers and the community in which they lived together. Undoubtedly the landscape of our world, and of the church looks wildly different from what it did then, but one common element remains the same: the communal habit of gathering together over a meal.

There’s a handful of aromas that will forever be held in association to the arrival of spring and the promise of summer in my mind: the pungent smell of blush-colored peonies that bloom in my aunt’s garden each year, the smell of fresh spread wood shavings at a livestock show, and the overwhelming fragrance of a million trees blooming around my hometown. These different fragrances are indicative of new life and beauty to me, and I can’t help but wonder if Paul thought the same when he penned the verse above in Corinthians.

Before the pandemic became commonplace in our lives, many of us found rest in the company of our friends, in conversations shared over restaurant tables, and in the chapels and sanctuaries that have now stood silent for weeks. While these specific outlets of peace and comfort are unavailable to us at the moment, we at EPAGA Home Care hold fast to the belief that we serve the God who created rest in the first place; the God from whom all peace and comfort flows from.