Good Friends

A few weeks ago one of my best friends from St. Louis called me out of the blue. It was great to hear from him. This is the same friend that despises keeping up with The MAN via my blogs. We caught up on things and one thing I've always appreciated about MIN the Master is that he would often prompt a spontaneous prayer. When we were roommates he often would suggest that we pray together. Later when we lived states away we would get together and he rarely let an opportunity go by without recommending we end our time together in prayer. In a way I kind of thought it to be corny, but I always came away from those prayer times feeling better and deep inside I appreciated this. It is awkward suggesting to someone "lets just pray about this RIGHT NOW." I let many opportunites go by without doing this and it is something I should get better at.

This past Friday my family was invited to have an awesome soup lunch with the family of the pastor who married my wife and I. We actually met at a weekly bible study at this pastor's house. This was the first pastor in my life that we got to hang around and we got to know his family on a personal level. It was indeed a special time in my life. I sought consel about dating my wife who was 19 and 8 years younger than I and they said it would be okay. A little over a year later I married this beauty. This was back in Missouri about 15 years ago and times have changed. The preschool family that he had are now in college and high school. My kids are the age of his kids when we moved to Texas in 96. A few years later we were fortunate that he would again be our pastor as he took a job at a church in North Texas.

Our busy lives crossed paths only a few times since the turn of the century and getting together Friday rekindled old times. I was reminded that the conversation back then did not revolve around getting older, growing prostrates, heart issues and such. We had a great time. We also got to be around D & B as they came in from out of state to visit the pastor and his family. Our special time ended with my wife and I having great conversation with D & B as the pastor had to leave for an afternoon wedding.

For me being a Christian allows me to have such special friendships that remain strong even when our lives take different paths. Being a Christian allows me to quickly gain "new family" when we have joined new churches over the years.

Thanks Bro Bill and family for having a big impact on my life! So much time does not need to pass before we get together again! Thanks for having us over Saturday!

Your friend in Christ,

The MAN