It's all in the name

As I write, our new friends are in Singapore enroute to their home in Kent, England. We had three lovely days with them and all because of a name. 
It started last Friday.
'Hello? Are you Steve's wife.' The distinctive, pommy accent bounced down my phone.
'I am.'
'We're here in Brisbane and we'd love to meet you. Blimey! Isn't it hot!'
We organised to meet them Sunday afternoon. This relationship began in England in 1841 when Malcolm's great-great-grand father had a little brother called Solomon Wanmer, who emigrated to Australia on the ship, 'Nimrood', in 1855. Steve is Solomon's great grand son. 
No one in Solomon's family has seen any relatives from England from the day he sailed until we shook Malcolm's hand on Sunday. There was a reconnection of the families about forty years ago through the mail and then contact began through facebook last year.
We invited our new friends/family to stay at our house. What a wonderful time we had, showing them our beautiful city and trying to catch up on one hundred and fifty years of history!
The great surprise was the family similarities. Both cousins had followed similar career paths. They shared a common interest in cars, both old and new. Both love the paper, but refuse to read it after someone else has left the pages untidy. The list goes on. We have discovered a large,new family, carrying similar interests and even similar names.

What a powerful model is family. It is the backbone of our culture, the fabric that holds society together. It is the model that God used to establish His church. He sent Jesus as the first of many sons. I count myself as one of them. I hope others can see the family likenesses in my life as they compare me to Jesus, the same way as we saw the family resemblances this week.