Faraway Friends and Family

I came across this verse very early this morning,

John 3:8

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

I began to think about my friends and family members and how we are all scattered in the wind sometimes. Days, weeks and months may pass and we do not gather or see one another.

Funny thing about family, friends and community is that you are never more than a whisper away from one another. They will hear your whisper and come running because we are all one in the same spirit of love and unity.

I used to work everyday with my sister, Ginny, for the eight years that we co-owned a small business. When that happens, you often take for granted the meaning of friends and family because they are always around you. Suddenly after we sold the business, we rarely saw each other even though we live just 20 miles apart. However, several times over the past few years I have needed her and she has come running with arms wide open to help me.

Whether it was the use of her farmlands to bury my beloved dog, Brownie, or to supplement our food supply when her garden overflowed with a bountiful harvest, she shared it with us. These are just a few examples. Yet, time and circumstance get in the way and the weeks and months may pass and we don't get physically together.

Today, I realized that we don't need to be physically together. She is woven into the fiber of my life and is always there - even when I do not see her. Just like the verse in John 3:8, "You hear its sound…" The sound of love.

For months now, I have been grieving the sight of many in my church family also. Our church is growing leaps and bounds and we have five services. Some of my church family has even moved away and I miss them also. But, I had the occasion to speak with one of them recently and they shared with me, "We pray for you daily." Imagine that, out of sight but never out of their hearts and minds, just like the wind. You cannot see it but you hear its sound.

These are my faraway friends and family members. And, like the wind, they are always there even when I cannot see them.