A couple of weeks ago, my parents (pictured below) came through our area on the start of their vacation.

Our family was able to eat lunch and spend some time together as they made their way to the St. Louis area. As they talked about the days they had planned and the people they looked forward to seeing, the memory of friends rushed through my brain and heart. I had a friend once tell me, “If you go through life with one person you can truly call a friend, you could be the most fortunate person on the planet.” Not only have my parents been blessed with wonderful friends over the years, but so have Tiffany and I. People who have loved us in spite of ourselves. Looked past our faults. Forgiven accidental (and at times intentional) wrongs done. Have walked to the mountaintops, and traveled to the valleys with us. Have celebrated our lives, marriage, kids, and the various stages we have experienced separately and together.
The appreciation I had for my parents growing up in the area of relationship building was great-but it has grown to even new heights as the years have passed. They truly modeled what it meant to not only initiate friendship, but to accept it as well. I will be forever grateful of the way they modeled loving God, and loving people. In a couple of weeks, the Bible study will take us to Matthew 22:34-40, which includes some of my favorite verses of all time. Jesus instructed to love God first and love people second-and to have no reservation in doing so. If those of us who call ourselves Christians really lived out those verses-if we loved God with our all, and people more than ourselves-our lives, relationships, and world would look like nothing we (or any other generation for that matter) has ever seen. It would be amazing!
Having the opportunity to spend part of the day with my parents a couple of days before the national celebration of Fathers was meaningful. Having the opportunity to spend Father’s Day with Tiff, Tirin, and Ethan was absolutely amazing. Tirin drew a picture (below) that expressed her heart, and I believe expresses the heart of our family towards God, each other, and for those we have a relationship with. We need to continue striving in the area of loving with our all-God first, and people second. My friend was right-a person who goes through life with one good friend has accomplished much. A person who goes through life with more than one could be most fortunate person on the planet. If you know Christ personally, he is your friend forever-and you have gained the best friend possible, and are the most fortunate person on the planet. If you have one friend beyond Him-who loves you for a lifetime in spite of yourself-you have been given a gift directly from God that is worth celebrating and cherishing. You have good people around you-you can probaly name who they are as easily as Tirin could in her Ray family portrait below.