A “Friend” Themed Weekend
The theme of this past weekend was “Friends….old and new.”
We went to the Forge Conference where we knew not a soul. It was exciting to meet a whole new group of people that desire to live their lives for Christ. The fellowship is so sweet and the teaching at the conference was hard hitting….just how I like it. These guys weren’t taking it easy on us.
Challenge me, Lord, to become more like You.
By the end of the weekend we had made fast friends with several families and hope to grow those relationships. Don’t you just love finding new pockets of people that encourage you and help to strengthen your vision? Me too!
On Sunday after the conference several of the families came to our house for lunch and some last minute fellowship before getting back to the real world. It was so refreshing for my kids to be around other people who make the same weird choices we make. Their discussions centered around what God is doing in their lives, how they like to study the Bible, honoring their parents, etc. They all hung out together….older ones and younger ones. Everyone was included and all were welcome. It is the way our family lives, but we rarely come across it in other families and it was a welcome treat for my children!
In the middle of the conference, on Saturday evening, James and I slipped away and drove to Austin (about 2.5 hours away) to take my parents out for their 50th anniversary. My sister and I planned a nice evening and we surprised them by inviting 5 couples that have been dear friends of my parents for the past 35+ years. It was so much fun to walk with them into the restaurant and see their expressions when they saw their friends waiting for them. My sister and I both cried when we saw Mom crying and it went from there to a perfect evening of visiting with old friends.
The old friends reminded me of where I came from.
The new friends renewed my vision for where I want to go.
Doesn’t get much better than that folks.
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I can imagine how special that time was for your parents. Brought tears to my eyes just hearing about it. 50 years of marriage must hold many sweet memories and precious friends.
Beautiful words about friends old and new.
Our church gives us that kind of fellowship every week and we are so thankful for that!
That must be such a blessing to be with families such as that. We are in a time a searching for a church family, and I would love to find families who would encourage us to live for Christ in all things. I’m so glad you were blessed by your time at the conference with other like minded families. 🙂
Hooray for getting to meet like minded people! It is such a blessing to meet friends that you can connect with on multiple levels. I am so happy that the evening with your parents turned out well! 🙂