Jet-Skis, Ziplines and Pastors! Oh My!

As you may have noted from my last post or from Sherri's post on www.werejoice.blogspot.com we spent the last week on vacation in and around Branson Missouri. We had a great time.

For Sherri and I, vacation time is time to be with family. We especially love spending time with our boys whom we bribe to join us. Bribes include jet-skiing, zip-lining, golf and whatever food they want to eat. It's a week we enjoy so much and well worth the price. These days we don't get to see our four boys all at once very often.

So this past week we did all the normal vacation stuff- saw some shows, spent time on the lake, played miniature golf, shopped and did everything we could except rest and relax. That is what Sunday will be for.

Of all the things we did, maybe the most memorable was meeting old friends- two different families on the same day, people we don't get to see very often any more. And maybe visiting with two former Atonement pastors and their wives in Branson seems like an odd vacation activity but it was not odd at all- it was a great blessing.

Pete and Liz Ave-Lallament spent the afternoon at our rented house and we shared a thousand laughs as we sat at the kitchen table and recalled the old days along with my mom and dad. Then later in the evening we all shared a dinner with Ralph and Susie Guetersloh - with the added bonus of Bill and Lynn Mammel. In short, what a great day.

What a blessing it is to count your spiritual mentors as friends. It is truly one of God's richest blessings when your Pastor becomes a friend as well. I remember very well and with a smile how Chuck Easton sang 'Friends' on Pete and Liz's last service at Atonement. Part of the song proclaims (using only my fading memory):

'And a friend's a friend forever if the Lord's the Lord of them.'
'Though it's hard to let you go, in the Father's hands we know, that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.'

I think the friendships we form in Christ with one another are indeed special, life-long, even eternal bonds. And seeing each other after a long time apart is wonderful. At Atonement, a banner hangs in the narthex which talks about 'making friends in Christ'. Let me encourage you to do just that this Sunday no matter what church you find yourself in. It is a bonus gift of God that you will be blessed by even on vacation years and years later.

Your Friend in Christ!
kp