Back in January this year we helped some very close friends, well family, move from Mattoon, IL about 3 hours away to Rushville, IL to pastor a church. It was difficult to see them leave. They helped us through some very tough times this past year and half. They were some of the only people who stood beside us when things got rough and tough. No matter what time of day or night they were always there. We spent a great amount of time with this family.
Our families met about 4 years ago through ministry, Jaret and Jason were both youth pastors and worked on a community outreach event together. Cheri (Jason's wife) and I became friends, sisters, confidants. We spent many hours talking over coffee at Common Grounds (local coffee shop) about family, our own walk, just life in general. I relied a lot on Cheri and her input in my life. If there was ever a problem or issue I couldn't quite handle I knew I could always call Cheri and she would talk me through it. With both of us having 4 kids and very busy family lives there was always something to talk about from school to ministry to families to just daily life. There weren't many days where our families didn't talked at some point. We took care of each others kids and pets.
Recently, Jaret and I had a weekend with absolutely nothing to do
(very unusual) so we went to see Avengers (great movie by the way).
Afterwards, wanting something to do we both said about the same time,
"Wish J and Cheri were still here. We could hang out with them for a
while." That's the sort of relationship we all had together. There were many evenings and weekends we would just drop by and hang out. Just to live life together, to enjoy each others families, bounce around ideas. We made a lot of great memories together and life long friendships. It's difficult to lose that sort of connection in a town where you feel very alone anymore, now that's not saying we don't have friends here because we do but there aren't many that we trust with EVERYTHING anymore because of life events. I know that all we have to do is call our friends but life gets busy and time gets away from you.
This sounds sappy and a tad bit crazy but sometimes I will still drive by the house where they used to live. The house is still for sale and every so often I try to go mow the yard as I know it is difficult to take care of from 3 hours away. There were a lot of tears cried there but they were way more fun times and laughter there also.
God has a reason for everything. He places people in your life for a season. I am thankful God brought our families together. Through that connection I found great peace in times of turmoil and that is priceless.
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