by Joanne Wiklund
Amazing how old friends turn up when you least expect them. I witnessed this week two old high school classmates run into each other in a checkout line. I don’t shop anymore, but we just popped in for something I needed. It was so fun. When they realized who each other were, they shared a large hug and lots of laughs. They hadn’t had contact with each other for over twenty years. So fun! Even just to be party to the reunion.
Growing up in small rural communities so many of us are still here, right where we started out, almost. Lives have changed in many ways, people have come and gone, but finding again someone with memories that match yours is so good. Teachers, classes, friends, pets, vehicles: so much to talk about in a checkout line.
Friends are valuable, for so many reasons. They accept us for who we are, foibles and all. They remember our family members and the stories are sometimes hysterical. We remember so much and yet, we don’t let the years of no contact stop us from starting where we once lost contact. We let our friendship begin again. On one of these snowy cold days when you’re huddled in, grab a phone and call an old friend. Laugh and you’ll be a whole lot warmer, especially in your heart.
Paul: Romans 2:1-5 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”