Losing Touch
This week my husband and I took a three day motorcycle trip, We were on a scavenger hunt of sorts looking for a city and a county for each letter of the alphabet. This took us to Xenia, Zanesville, and Youngstown, OH. I have a cousin near Youngstown and we had not seen each other in about 37 years, we estimated. We had been close in our childhood, she and her brothers would come down to visit our grandparents in the summer. I was an only child and she was the only girl so for the duration of those visits we were stuck together like glue.
Life happened, we grew up. She went in the Army. A couple of years later I went into the Air Force, She had a child and a job, and then I had 4 children and a job. We reconnected on Facebook but you know how that is. A few pictures, a joke and some likes.
I messaged her and asked her if we could stop by for a short visit. When we got there it was like summer vacation had just started. We hugged and chatted away as if it were merely a school year since we had seen each other, not nearly four decades.
I met Jesus when I was in Middle School, We were close. We talked every day. Of course the relationship would wax and wane, I would get busy with other friends and leave Him out. Even through most of High School and part of my Air Force days we kept in pretty close touch.
I began dating and eventually married someone who was not friends with him. I spent all my time and energy with this new love. His friends became my friends and I stopped calling Jesus or talking to him. Our friendship, at least on my end, cooled. As the marriage went through the years and was deteriorating I looked for comfort. Humanism, Taoism. Every book in the small local library. I had two toddlers and I knew they should be in church so I returned - on a physical basis. I was too ashamed to give Jesus a call and ask to meet with him after years of neglecting our friendship. I spent the next 15 years or more present on Sunday mornings, counting the 59 ticks of the watch until I could leave. I moved to another state and gave up all pretense of attendance. I just quit.
Then some things happened in my life, I had some events along with a deteriorating mental health condition which I have struggled with since I was about 13 years old. I needed a friend. I humbled myself and called up Jesus. He answered and it was as if only days had passed, not years. He still loved me and had been eagerly waiting for my call. We started talking all the time - like you do with a new lover. He was the first person I wanted to talk to in the mornings, secret private messages during the day, and the person I talked to as I fell asleep.
He has been my best friend ever since. He gives advice, comfort through the Holy Spirit, joy, and so much more. Many times, if I am not talking to Him, I am thinking about Him. What a Friend We Have in Jesus, as the hymn goes.
So, if you have let old relationships slide, it happens. Remember, Jesus is just sitting and waiting to hear from you. He is eager to resume a relationship with you. Don't delay; call, text, message or write Him. He will respond with the greatest love you have ever known.
Praying for those who don't have Jesus as a Friend. There are just too many of them....
Life happened, we grew up. She went in the Army. A couple of years later I went into the Air Force, She had a child and a job, and then I had 4 children and a job. We reconnected on Facebook but you know how that is. A few pictures, a joke and some likes.
I messaged her and asked her if we could stop by for a short visit. When we got there it was like summer vacation had just started. We hugged and chatted away as if it were merely a school year since we had seen each other, not nearly four decades.
I met Jesus when I was in Middle School, We were close. We talked every day. Of course the relationship would wax and wane, I would get busy with other friends and leave Him out. Even through most of High School and part of my Air Force days we kept in pretty close touch.
I began dating and eventually married someone who was not friends with him. I spent all my time and energy with this new love. His friends became my friends and I stopped calling Jesus or talking to him. Our friendship, at least on my end, cooled. As the marriage went through the years and was deteriorating I looked for comfort. Humanism, Taoism. Every book in the small local library. I had two toddlers and I knew they should be in church so I returned - on a physical basis. I was too ashamed to give Jesus a call and ask to meet with him after years of neglecting our friendship. I spent the next 15 years or more present on Sunday mornings, counting the 59 ticks of the watch until I could leave. I moved to another state and gave up all pretense of attendance. I just quit.
Then some things happened in my life, I had some events along with a deteriorating mental health condition which I have struggled with since I was about 13 years old. I needed a friend. I humbled myself and called up Jesus. He answered and it was as if only days had passed, not years. He still loved me and had been eagerly waiting for my call. We started talking all the time - like you do with a new lover. He was the first person I wanted to talk to in the mornings, secret private messages during the day, and the person I talked to as I fell asleep.
He has been my best friend ever since. He gives advice, comfort through the Holy Spirit, joy, and so much more. Many times, if I am not talking to Him, I am thinking about Him. What a Friend We Have in Jesus, as the hymn goes.
So, if you have let old relationships slide, it happens. Remember, Jesus is just sitting and waiting to hear from you. He is eager to resume a relationship with you. Don't delay; call, text, message or write Him. He will respond with the greatest love you have ever known.
Praying for those who don't have Jesus as a Friend. There are just too many of them....
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