I had the most amazing experience last night. My dear friend Cindie did what I think many of us dream of doing and the “some day” part of that comes into play and it doesn’t happen. She hosted a few of us for what we thought was our annual Christmas gathering (and of course, watching our KC Chiefs play), but this year she brought all kinds of magic moments. She set the most beautiful table, she put so much care and thought, planning and intention into everything from the menu to her incredible toast to our life long friendship that it left us all spinning.
She started her toast with a simple, “I looked around the room…” and she went on to note either experiences or gifts that adorned her home and her heart with memories of our friendship. That friendship started in the neighborhood when all of our kids were about kindergarten age and has been steeped and sowed over lake trips, soccer sidelines, pool gatherings, birthday parties, holidays, graduations and now weddings. There has been so many changes for all of us over the last 20 years, moves, new jobs, heart break, love won and love lost, the passing of parents and much of the normal journeys of life.
One of my favorite pastors, Adam Hamilton, often asks us to think about who our “stretcher bearers” might be if we passed. His point is that it is helpful in life to cultivate strong friendships and to surround yourself with people that bring the best out of you and that will stay with you through “it all.” It’s powerful.
As we go into celebrating the last part of 2021 and this week, a focus on the birth of Christ, it seemed useful to me to share this story in hopes that we might all do whatever we can in this season to acknowledge, call out and love a little deeper those long lasting friendships that literally form and mold our lives. They infuse life with joy and hope and that is to me, a huge part of the Christmas message.
Here’s to wrapping up all of the good and not so good parts of the year and reaching forward with all of the love we can give this week.
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