Favorites Friday

We're excited to welcome some very good friends to the Gang's house this weekend. We've been friends with this couple since the fall of 1990, when our pastor sent us to a Young Marrieds' Small Group that his daughter and her husband were hosting in their home. We'd only been married a couple months and were very anxious to make some new friends. So when The Boss and I were introduced to Ron and Sherry, I immediately issued a dinner invitation. I didn't know it then, but they were completely taken back that a virtual stranger would so quickly offer to serve dinner to them. And I'm happy to report that we've been great friends ever since!

My Favorite Things About The Staleys:

• They are consistently a pleasure to spend time with. Conversation never lags and we have a wonderful balance of light-hearted, fun conversation mixed with spiritually thought-provoking topics to explore every time we are together.
  
• We share a mutual love of great food, new recipes, and interesting new ingredients. Their kids are more adventurous in this area than The Gang, but we always have a great time sharing new things we've learned since our last visit.
• Our kids and theirs are great friends and have grown up together. They play together very well and this allows us to really enjoy each other's company.
• Since we've moved, the visits are even more meaningful for all of us. They've made an equal effort to stay in touch and stay close. In fact, considering that their whole family and church network is centered around the Mechanicsburg/Dillsburg area, they've actually made more effort to sustain the relationship since we left.
• Even though they don't totally understand (or like!) some of the decisions we've had to make over the years (moving!) they have been consistently supportive and encouraging. I think it's safe to say they are almost as excited about our adoption as we are and I KNOW they are often on the look-out for jobs for The Boss to lure us back to Mechanicsburg :)
  

I think we can all agree that friendships like these are hard to come by and harder still to sustain. I count it a real joy and a complete privilege that the Lord has seen fit to give us these kinds of relationships. I can count on one hand the friends I call intimates and I recognize that this is more than many people ever get in a lifetime. I think I owe my parents a big debt of gratitude for this, after thanks to the Lord. I've seen them consistently choose in their lives to put people ahead of things and real relationships ahead of surface acquaintances. Watching their example, I am blessed to say that I have learned the value of true friendship and people-focused living. The Staleys are a great example of the kind of hospitable, warm and loving heart that Christ must have had when he walked the earth. The kind of hearts that make great friends, for life! We are grateful for friends like these!