Friendship

I opened my email this morning to find this picture sent from one of our friends. It made my day! We were in small group with these friends in Virginia (not sure where one of the guys is in the picture — if he was taking the picture or off on a military assignment at the time).

Our small group and best friends from our Charlottesville days

We have all been through so much together — hard things, unexpected, even unusual things. One of our friends in the picture is already with Jesus, having faithfully journeyed through cancer and death’s dark shadows while rejoicing in God his Savior. Jeff gave us an example to follow.

I can’t see this group without reflecting on God’s faithfulness to us and the joy of Christian friendships to go through life together. And also with a touch of sadness as I remember our friend and brother in Christ. We will see him again and look forward to it! Thank You, Lord!

We ended this day by going to our current small group of five couples here in the area where we now live. It’s been several months since we had gathered, and it was good to be together again in a warm, inviting home and share the latest about the things going on in our lives. Again, it made me grateful for the gift of friends and being able to journey through life together. I’m grateful to start and end the day with two different small groups that have meant and mean so much to us.