story time !!! ya know how it’s a “huge deal” when you first start dating to go on your first double date with your “person” ??? (well, i don’t know about now, but, way back in the stone age, that was a thing!) … you see, it meant that THIS person was, well, a “keeper” and was gonna be around enough to (a) meet up with your kind of crazy friends and (b) well, you were introducing them to your kind of crazy friends … it just so happened that this really really really (did i say really) cute girl had recently started dating a goofball and decided that it was time to introduce him to her “study buddy” and one of her best friends, who had recently started dating a new guy herself and was ready to take the same plunge … that was a quarter of a century ago and that cute girl turned into my wife, the study buddy has become my dear friend Ally, and they new guy is Dennis and, there’s so many stories of our lives intertwining and our kids growing up over the years that this would go from an SSA to a full blown sermon series if i tried to address it, but, in short, THEY helped make OUR, well, US and, while some friends are friends for a season and friends for a reason, some friends are there to be cherished for a lifetime … at the end of His ministry, Jesus had, literally, hundreds and thousands of people wanting to call Him friend, depending on where He was, but, it was the 12 that He cherished and reminded to bear His cross when it was time to go … true friendships are organic and aren’t bought, but, do need to be nurtured with love, time, and understanding … and, i guess in this day and age, sometimes, those are the hardest (and most expensive) things for some folks to part with for some folks, so, if four old coots on a boat can teach y’all anything today, please let it be that it’s WORTH it to nurture those relationships over time and let them grow … just a thought from an incredibly lucky goofball a quarter of a century later ….

Bible Verses

Proverbs 17:17-22 / Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Questions

Do you have any lifelong friendships ??? do you have any friendships that were “decades ago” that you’re hanging on to only because they were decades ago friendships ??? (if so, can they be repaired to be current ??? Do you have any old friends you’d like to reconnect with … if so, why not make the first move (i recently did and it worked out in most cases!)