Staff Conference

I'm not typically a very sentimental person.....it may come from the hours and hours of going through my grandmother and great-grandmother's piles of "treasures" they saved when I was younger or it may come from the fact that I just like to be efficient - whatever the reason, I don't tend to dwell on the past too much. That is one of the reasons that the barrage of emotions I felt as we pulled up to Pinecove for our annual Red River staff conference surprised me.

Seven years - there's seems to be something significant about going to a place for the last seven years. As I was taking a walk through the woods on the last afternoon I had some time to reflect on the good and the hard memories those woods bring to mind. I remember the first time I walked into the meeting room, I hardly knew a soul and I was terrified. I remember the day my team sat in a room and cried together because something was wrong in our relationships and we couldn't seem to fix it. (We later skipped the meeting and went for Mexican food). I remember late nights eating dessert and playing games around a table full of friends. Many of those friends have moved on to other lives now. I remember meeting new friends for the first time - a couple who had come back from overseas to work in our region - little did I know that a few years later she would be my boss ( and a great one at that). I remember the night that I had to leave the room because the guy who had broken my heart was leading worship and I felt as though I could no longer breath. I remember the accident - after a weekend of laughter and fun discovering that our friends had almost died on the way home. I remember it being a place where God met me in my joy and in my pain.

I can't believe how many people have come and gone over the years....and often I can't believe that I'm still here. This year may have held one of my most precious memories. I walked in on Friday night and sat with a group of staff that I have known my entire staff career. They were freshmen in college when I first showed up on campus. It was amazing to see them sitting at that table....to see what God has done with their lives. I've been so privileged play a small role in their lives. They certainly weren't sitting at that table because of me. I got to walk a little way along the journey with them.....but I believe that the journey they have a far greater influence than mine has had. It was perhaps the sweetest moment I have ever experienced at Pinecove and I'm so grateful for each one of them.

Neighbors

I have this sweet neighbor named Tom. He calls me "darlin" and watches out for me. I feel like he's almost been an adopted grandfather to me. (My own grandfather died when I was 14 and the other lived far away, so I've really liked having some one like that in my life again). He and his wife have been married for sixty years and they've lived in the same little house on Laurel Street for their entire married lives. Tom is the heart of our neighborhood. He knows everyone's name. He has time to chat every day, and even those he has one of those annoying little yippy dogs, I always look forward to seeing him.

In the last few months he and his wife have been sitting on the porch every evening. They just sit together....you can tell that they've been together for a lifetime and just really love each other. She's not been in good health this past year. In the spring, she rushed to the hospital one morning at 3 am.

On Monday, I woke up at 4:30 to hear a car door slamming. I noticed that Tom's car was gone all the time this week and his kids and grandkids cars came and went. I've been so worried that something happened to his wife. I can't imagine Tom without her. I can't imagine what it would be like to spend a life time with some one you loved and then lose them. Happily, this morning I found out that she had gone into the hospital for knee replacement surgery and breezed through it.

A few minutes ago I was standing in my kitchen washing dishes when I heard the car door slam. I looked out the window to see Tom bring his bride home. His daughter was with him but he was the one who went to the door and helped her out. He was the one who helped her struggle up the stairs and held her in his arms as they walked through the door.

In a time where marriage vows seem to mean very little and where men often seem to have lost the sense of what it means to really take care of a woman, it deeply touched my heart to see this eighty-something year old man take tenderly care for his wife. That is a picture of lifetime friendship and love. I'm so glad to have them home (even the yippy dog).