Friendships that last

As part of this sabbatical, we have been reconnecting with old relationships. We are staying with friends from Germany who we met in 1981! That is just about 30 years! It has been so great to reminisce, to laugh, to talk about those old stories. Seeing those stories from respective points of view. It's been refreshing, relaxing and restorative.

Last night a colleague from the 80's (Dale) came over. We met her husband for the first time. All of us had a wonderful dinner and shared about the greatness and goodness of God. We talked about how good God had been to us. There are also sad times that happen in the midst of just doing life. Times of inexplicable pain. But we push through it, knowing and trusting that God is good! Eventually we will understand.

Dale was telling us last night about one of the relationships from those ministry days, a "club kid" who she kept a relationship with long after his high school days. She was able to speak truth into his life through college. She helped him through life transitions, bringing the authority of the Word of God into his life, helping him understand sovereignty. Many times this took them far away geographically, but that didn't matter.

Dale was there for his years of dating and falling in love. She helped officiate at his wedding. She was the god-mother for their first child. And she participated in his memorial service after he was killed in Iraq from an IED that hit the vehicle he was traveling in (3 weeks before his return to the USA). In the midst of the plans that were being made by his local church and by the Army, Dale contacted many of the friends from those days in Heidelberg to invite them to his memorial. Many came.

What an example of full service ministry! Dale began to care for this kid, because he showed up at a CLUB meeting. She saw how the gospel permeated his life because of his background and hearing the gospel spoken directly through high school. She continued to care for him and love him through college and eventually through his military career. She advised and discipled him through transitions, promotions, family matters, love and marriage and fatherhood. Now, it didn't just stop with this kid, she ministered to his parents and his little brother as well all along the way. She still maintains relationships with all of them.

This woman who I have known for 25+ years. Provides me with an example and a model of ministry that inspires me to reconnect with many folks that I have seen pass through!

How do you maintain relationships through the years? Who are you REALLY Facebook friends with?
What is a long-term relationship?