TOGETHER AGAIN...

Together again...

...two dear friends of longevity.

Way back, I turned 20 and married the next week, and Milton took me 400 miles away to Mobile, Alabama, where we entered the ministry as youth pastors.

After a week or two, I was lonely. Had no friends. Missed my mama. Back then you wrote letters and made a long distance phone call maybe once every 10 days.

Milton and I literally got down on our knees and asked God to give me a friend.

The next afternoon, the phone rang. A cheery voice said, "This is Kathy."

Kathy's husband was on the administrative staff of the large school in the church we served, but they attended another church (his father pastored in Mobile). Interpretation: we'd had no contact; I didn't really know her.

"What are you fixing (Southern) for supper?" she asked.

"I...uh...well, I've got ground beef laid out. Probably spaghetti."

"Bag it up, and y'all come to our house. Let's combine our food and eat together."

And a friendship was born. A God-given one.

At least three times a week, we combined our food, cooked together and ate together. After supper, the guys would watch sports, and we'd talk common interests or go shop the 88 cents sale table at Gayfer's, a department store. (We were all newlyweds and had no money.)

Today, she came to see me, and we had a sweet, wonderful morning of catching up, and then talking about common interests such as travels--we've traveled to a few of the places they have. They are feature writers/photographers for a major U.S. newspaper and travel across America writing about their experiences. They write about whole towns and areas, and they specialize in restaurants and lodging.

Thank You, God, for how rich You have made my life. You are a God who wants us, as Your created beings, to experience pleasure and goodness and good times.