“C’mon Mom, let’s cut some more hay!”

“Not now Possum, the hay’s not ready. Besides, Dad has to work on the tractor; the A/C quit.”

“Awwww… I’ll just sit in the tractor and wait then.”

When the things that are dear to us are suddenly taken away, chaos tries to invade its place. Pot Pie loves to ride… anything, whether tractor, truck, or four-wheeler. He’s even content to perch himself in the passenger seat of my van. And when he can’t, his “countenance is fallen.”

Few things disrupt our lives with fervent bewilderment as does the loss of physical nearness to personal friends.

We too often take for granted the privilege of friendship. I wish I could claim, “not guilty,” but I’m probably the worst at properly cherishing this wonderful gift.

Several years ago, I was blessed with not only meeting a good friend, but with having him serve as my pastor. This young man became a spiritual mentor in my life. I monitored his actions and activities, with intent to imitate. I longed for his recommendation of books and articles, and then ran to the bookstore to add his suggestions to my library (a large number of books reside there today).

Please don’t think I’m placing him on a pedestal. He would never tolerate that, because his every breath was spent proclaiming the glory of God’s Son. He was sold out for the Gospel. But his excitement breathed new life into an ever-becoming-dusty religion seen in far too many churches today.

And then he was gone; called away to another local assembly. And life changed for me dramatically.

Don’t waste your breath with all the normal responses to statements as this. I know all the churchly advisement that is coming. [YOU shouldn’t place your faith in a man! That’s what you get for placing your confidence in men rather than Jesus! And so on…] Forgive me… I’m human, and he was a great friend.

But the story gets worse (that’s actually why I’m posting this). Even though he moved far away, his teaching was still available; right here on WordPress. I used one of his posts just recently to teach in my current church.

The key word though is, “was.”

As I often do, I traveled to his site from my blogroll to find the words, “The authors have deleted this blog.” Now I know how Pot Pie feels when he can’t ride with TC and me.

Is there a moral to this story? Of course! Treasure every moment of friendship that God blesses you with. Tomorrow, it may be gone.