The Tie That Binds

My dad was part of this group of four men who went to Cal Poly Pomona together, all in the aerospace engineering programs. The four guys roomed together, pranked together, hiked together, and became life-long friends. So I grew up with "uncle" Bill, "uncle" Rick, and "uncle" Jay. The thing that bbound them all was their love for the Lord (and aerospace engineering, of course).

Well, Jay and my dad eventually both left California to come up to Washington to work for Boeing, while Bill and Rick continued to work for Rockwell International (now also Boeing). Over the 31 years since my dad has left the area, my dad has kept in touch with these men. It helped that all of my relatives were still in the California area giving us plenty of reasons to visit.

Rick was just recently assigned to come work up here in the Seattle-area Boeing plants for two months, which means that he and his wife will get to enjoy our typical wet and often grey spring/early summer. They came to our church today, had lunch with us and then spent the afternoon lounging at my parent's house. And you know what? It's still the love of the Lord which binds us all. Relating to them as adult-to-adult now is of course completely different than child-to-adult. Sure the life-long history adds to the relationships that they have with us all but the fact that Christ can be present in our conversations is wonderful. I'm so happy that my dad linked up with such good men in college...men who love the Lord and could be friends for a life-time.

This makes me thankful for my friends.

• One friend I've known since kindergarten...and now I get to see her beautiful family grow and am excited to watch where/how God will use her and her husband.
• Three friends from college whose hearts have been tied with mine. I rarely see them and communicate only sparodically with two of them, but I am confident that whenever our paths may cross again, it will be like time has never passed.
• One newer (and local--amen!) friend (from within the last four years) who will always be near and dear, regardless of where in the world she and her family end up as missionaries.
• And the many sweet friends from my time in Germany. Those I long for and love and those who understand that period of my life.

These friends have shaped me in ways I can't fully define but what I love the most is that I share Christ with all of them too. He is truly the tie that bind.