Yes, it's 2 AM!

Some good friends of mine are moving, and tomorrow (today) is their last time to worship with us. I feel so strange. I am really excited that they will be closer to their family at last (I actually think it was kinda crazy that they moved clear across the country in the first place!), but they really will leave a hole in our congregation, & I know I personally will miss them a great deal.

When I was growing up in north NJ, it really upset me how often I lost friends to a move. One year, I lost 3 best friends in a row! (Yes, everyone that said they were my friend was considered a "best friend") It got to the point that I really didn't want to be there anymore because I kept losing friends, & I was really excited to finally be moving...even if it was the summer before my senior year of high school. I really thought things would be different living in mostly-rural southwest Virginia, but I realized this past year that this is not the case. We live in the midst of two college towns, & people move in & out all the time. How do I keep myself from avoiding friendships? As strong as the desire is to have lots of friends, I am also scared that I will never have that one really good friend because they all leave! I felt the bond between my friend Cindy & I grew really strong in the last year, and now they're moving.

And I didn't mean to make this sound like a pity party for myself. I guess I have some venting to do--Dan just doesn't understand!

I say that I trust God to provide what I need, but do I really trust that in every respect? Do I let Him guard my heart--or do I do it myself? Do I let Him provide for me, or do I seek out the things I think I need? Why is it so hard to let go, really let go, and let God step in and take care of me?

Back to Cindy and her family...one thing that I think is amazing about the Woods is their involvement in so many ministries. Yes, Mike is our campus minister, and their main focus is (was) to serve and minister to the students in our area. Yet Mike & Cindy both were incredibly active in our children's ministry. They also got to know and helped take care of some of the older members in the congregation. They tried to be as involved as they could with the young married group, and they sought to be friends with many of the parents of their children's friends. While I have heard similar things said of my Dad and Mom, I still think it is a pretty unique quality to find in a minister--one who is involved in many areas (and does them well) and gets to know many people of the congregation as friends.

Mike & Cindy are also some of the most sharing people I've ever met. We as a congregation did not pay them all that well. They found other ways to make money, and they found a lot of ways to be frugal with their money. No matter how much money they have, however, they find ways to share what they do have. Whatever they have is for others to have. Whatever someone else needs they find the resources necessary to provide. They remind me of an Acappella song called "Share what we've got." Some of the song goes, "Share what we've got/'cause we've all got a lot/of things to share together/Share what we've got/'cause we've all got a lot/of love to last forever." And Mike & Cindy seem to completely rest in the knowledge that their God will provide what is needed, and they know they are blessed more because of what they're willing to give to others. And they know God's love will cover whatever they are lacking.

And this was way too deep for me to try to write at 2AM. I am signing off in the hope that at least some of this made sense.