She was alone and scared as she….

The year was 1960…the old man had been driving for more than 10 hours. It was time to find a place to pull over and camp for the night. He found the perfect spot just off the main highway. So the old man pulled over and parked his pickup with a camper.

The sun was just about set on that warm summer evening. He was sitting in his favorite lounge chair with his dog at his feet, and fixing some of his favorite campfire stew. The coffee was done so he poured himself a cup.

As he sat there making plans for his next days journey, he saw the young girl of about 15 approaching his campsite.

She was alone and looked a bit scared…she approached the old man cautiously…reluctantly she started a conversation. She tearfully told him she had just run away from home. Said her parents just did not understand her at all.

He could not help noticing that she was eyeing his pot of stew… she told him she was cold and hungry.

He went into the camper and brought her a warm blanket and draped it over her shoulders. Then he fixed her a generous plate of stew; they sat and talked for several hours…it was well after dark now…she said she needed to head down the road. It was obvious that she had no place to go…so he asked her if she would like to spend the night and get an early start the next morning.

She agreed. The old man setup a comfortable and safe place for her inside his camper. Once he got her settled in he went outside and slept in his sleeping bag under the canopy of stars.

The night passed quickly. The sun was now just beginning to peek above the distant horizon…it was going to be another beautiful day.

He had breakfast well under way when the young girl came out of the camper. As breakfast was ending he handed her a small twig of a branch and asked her to snap it…puzzled she did so without the slightest resistance or hesitation with a loud pop she snapped it in two. He told her, that is what it is like being alone in this world…he then handed her a bundle of six small twigs that he had bound together with some string. He asked her, now break these in the same manner…struggling has hard as she could she was not able to break any of the twigs in the bundle…he said this is like a family, a strong bond that cannot be easily broken.

He looked her square in the eyes, and with a compassionate smile; he told her, go home, talk to your parents they love you and are very worried about you…you are family. She gave him a smile and a hug and started back home…

Christians today that stand-alone can be defeated and broken…but when joined together as a family along with other believers in Christ they form a bundle, a bond, a family that cannot be broken.