Crossing
the Mississippi River into Missouri Ester took this photo of the
majestic Gateway Arch in Saint Louis.
“Friendship Blessings”
“Thinking He was in their
company, they traveled on for a day. Then
they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends” (Luke
2:44). “Friends always show their love. What are brothers for if not to
share troubles?” (Proverbs 17:17).
We
are in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a couple of days. Without realizing it, when
looking for a motel in Tulsa, I booked a Comfort Inn right next to
Brooksyne’s Technical school where she attended her junior and senior
years to study cosmetology. This evening she has arranged a gathering
with friends from her elementary school, several which were also her
neighbors growing up in West Tulsa. Monday
evening we had dinner with David and Sandy Simpson. Dave is the friend
I’ve had
the longest contact with in life. His large family became our neighbors
in Belton
Missouri over fifty-five years ago when we both attended first grade.
We
went
through grade school and Junior High before my family moved from the
area. But Dave and I have stayed in contact all these years. It was
interesting to reminisce together over dinner as the wives and Ester
politely listened on.
Yesterday, on our way to Tulsa while traveling on the Will Rogers
Turnpike, we made our usual stop in Carthage, MO to visit the Precious
Moments museum, an incredible viewing of Sam Butcher’s gifting with the
paintbrush as he painted hundreds of his teardrop characters within
mural settings in the Precious Moments Chapel. Brooksyne
collected a
few Precious Moments figurines in the past but we do very little
collecting these days. Brooksyne would say cute collectibles inevitably
become dust collectibles. So we’ve turned our attention more to
collecting friends along life’s journey and we keep adding to our
collection.
Of course since
our marriage we have mostly mutual friends and for many years now we’ve
been
taking photographs of these friends. They are placed in a folder on my
computer labeled “friends” and many have been placed up on this site.
In fact, since around 2005 when we began archiving and posting photos
on our site, we have over 1,200 photos in the “people” folder.
One
of our more recent friends is Phil, whom we met this spring in our
chaplaincy ministry. Yesterday he texted us a photo of himself with his
son and grandson on Mount Bierstadt, a 14,065 “fourteener” they had
just climbed in Colorado. It’s great that we can still make new friends
even as we stretch toward our senior years!
It’s quite a collection and periodically I go through it and reminisce.
If you join us for a meal in our home we’ll ask you to sign our
guest registry (if we remember), and we’ll likely take your photo. It
helps instill memories of past visits from
friends and family over the years. We encourage our readers to keep a
Guest Book since we regret that we didn’t keep one from the beginning
of our marriage as some do.
We
enjoy having friends visit our home, but perhaps you’ve travelled with
a group of friends to events like CREATION, Family Camp or other
settings where many out of town people are staying for several days. We
look back at a time when Jesus was only a boy and did just that. He was
twelve when the events concerning the daily
verse occurred, “Thinking He was in their company, they
traveled on for a day. Then
they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends” after Jesus’ parents “lost” him after a trip to
Jerusalem. Notice that His parents’ sought for Him
among their “relatives and friends“. Of
course we know that Jesus was
actually back with the religious leaders, but the wording of the text
indicates that it was Christ’s practice to spend time with relatives
and friends. That’s where His parents assumed He would be so that’s
where
their search began.
I suppose we don’t think much about Jesus having friends as a little
boy. But He surely did. It’s normal and healthy to have friends and the
Scripture declares that Jesus “grew
in wisdom and stature, and in favor
with God and men”
(Luke 2:52). Growing in favor among men would surely
include developing lasting friendships.
Jesus considered His disciples to be friends. He said to them, “You are
my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14).
Obviously, if they chose to walk away from Jesus’ teaching about God’s
commands that would make them uncomfortable in being with Jesus and put
distance between them. Later, after Christ’s resurrection, in one of
His encounters with His disciples He has this
exchange, “Friends, haven’t you any
fish?” (John 21:5).
The Apostle Paul was also blessed by many friends. I enjoy this rather
obscure passage, “The next day we
landed at Sidon; and Julius, in
kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might
provide for his needs” (Acts 27:3). Paul seemed to have friends
wherever he went which means he was regularly making friends along the
way.
We
thank God for our friendship collection. The really
neat thing about
this collection is that, unlike other earthbound collections, our
friendship can continue throughout our eternal dwelling in heaven. All
our friends who follow
Christ will be among those with whom we spend eternity where we will
continue to enjoy meaningful conversations which will surely include
some delicious meals here and there!
Perhaps you will consider your friendship collection today. Make an
effort today to contact an old friend. You might also consider making a
new friend. It will bless you and it will also bless your friend!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we want to show our love
to friends in regular
conversation and in tangible ways as we reach out to them and express
personal interest in their lives. Proverbs 17:17 teaches us that
“Friends always show their love”, not only in the good times but we
share together in times of trouble upholding, supporting, and bearing
their burdens with them on life’s journey. As we mutually bear
our burdens we are strengthened and encouraged together. Our lives are
greatly enriched by the friendships we establish and grow from day to
day. Amen.
