Thick, Thick Water

There's one thing I really love about the church. Well, really there's a lot of things, but there's one thing that on my mind right now that I specifically love about the church. This weekend, we were blessed with a surprise overnight visit from our friends Will and Lisa Covill, along with their two children, Timmy and Lily. When we met Will and Lisa, we were stationed in New Bern, North Carolina. (Kenny was in the Marine Corps then.) We were having to drive about an hour to church on Sunday mornings, which was both difficult and sometimes frustrating. This was a lonely period for us...I wasn't sure how to make friends in a town where I didn't go to church! Where do you meet people? I even remember a day when I took the kids to Chic-Fil-A, just to try to meet people!!! Yikes!! (A funny thing...I actually DID end up meeting one of my dear friends in that Chic-Fil-A, but that's another story for another day!! Anyways, this church (in Jacksonville, NC) was not exactly overflowing with young families. Again, this was a lonely time. However, soon after we arrived, Will and Lisa arrived. At the time, they just had Timmy, and Will wasn't a christian yet, and I'd say they were probably struggling to keep coming every week. I THINK the first time we had them over was mostly an outreach effort on our part. Little did we know! We soon became fast friends, getting together often, teaching Dave Ramsey together, basically doing every "churchy" thing together. They helped us build a Sunday school class that helped bring in a lot of other young families. The really became family to us. We had Thanksgiving dinner at least once at their house, and they came to our house for Thanksgiving dinner at least once also. And we didn't really find ourselves pining for family...because they were as close as family. Anyways, time changes everything, and all too soon we found ourselves moving away to Searcy, while they moved away to Pensacola, Florida. (When you're in the military sad goodbyes are a way of life, unfortunately.) We visited Will and Lisa in Pensacola when we were on our way to Disneyworld last November. And now, here they were! We had them all to ourselves!! They came in Saturday afternoon, played boardgames with us Saturday night, and went to church with us (although Kenny had to work instead) on Sunday morning. After church we went to lunch, and then it was time for another goodbye. "What," you ask, "is there to love about the church in this story?" I know, right? What I love is this: With Will and Lisa no time has passed. We just pick right up where we left off. Their kids are our kids, and vice versa. There's no small talk...we just dive right in. We're FAMILY. You know, I've heard the saying all my life that blood runs thicker than water. I just have to disagree with that. There is a water that runs very, very thick. It's the same water that never runs dry. It quenches the soul. You NEVER get thirsty!! And that water is thick, thick water. Thicker than blood. And over the years, God has blessed us with several couples via thick water: Rance and Heather Gregg, Bryan and Angie Burrell, Will and Lisa, Keith and Donna Strickland, Jimmy and Mary Alice Brooks, and Bryan and Sarah Blake, to name a few. This is what church-family relationships are meant to be!! How I wish this would happen with all my relationships!! And my prayer for you is that you will have friendships where time cannot pass. Thick water friendships. Thick water family, really. So, that's what I love about church. Talk to you soon!!