Love and Friendship - A Journey of Story

Kathy and I just returned from Louisville where we had the opportunity to spend the day with dear friends from near Seattle.

We have know Greg and Kathleen for 18 years. We lived about a mile apart, we fellowshipped at the same church, we shared many a meal together, celebrated our children's successes and supported each other during their struggles.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance convention was in Louisville this week. Kathy and I fellowshipped with Greg and Kathleen at Woodinville Alliance church near Seattle. Greg and Kathleen came to our home last Saturday and Sunday here in Lexington.

I knew when we moved from Woodinville to be near our children and the emerging grandchildren that the transition would not be without heartache. It was just so good to be with people that know our story.

The older I get the more I come to understand that living a loving life is really about learning to share the story of those around us and actively participate as characters in that story. Here are some elements of story living that I have come to really appreciate.

My story is not just about me. In fact my story is much more about the people who have lived, breathed, sweated and sometimes even shouted into my life.

Every story is unique but when shared with those you trust it becomes a healthy, vibrant, messy compilation of many lives that builds a shared and trusted community with many similarities.

The deepest love in my life is with my wife as we have shared our story hour by hour for almost 38 years. That shared story between Kathy and I has been greatly enriched as we have had opportunity to be influenced by the story of other individuals and couples. Seeing how other marriages have matured through difficult times has stirred our hearts and created a mortor of love that binds our hearts with couples like Greg and Kathleen.

It is the hope and pray of Kathy and I that we will be able to inter into story sharing with many people in Lexington that also become communities of love.