Caution: Old Friends Laughing!

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
    until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
    I will carry you along and save you.

~Isaiah 46:4 

 

 I remember listening to stories at family gatherings.  Most of them I didn't understand, but I remember the laughter.  I remember listening to my Grampa talking about his friends and seeing his face light up as he remembered some funny tale of their exploits.  Watching he and his friends together laughing as they reminded each other of the stories of their lives was always priceless to me.  I still didn't get all their jokes, but I liked seeing them laugh.

 

This week, tomorrow as a matter of fact, I celebrate the fact that God has taken care of me for another year.  Looking back it's hard to believe the years have slipped by so quickly.  Looking back at the antics I had with some of my friends it's hard to believe we are still alive and not in jail.  But I also look at how many of my friends from my youth have already been called home.

 

A couple of weeks ago I saw a couple of old guys (no, I'm not one of them) sitting together and they were enjoying telling stories of their younger days.  I overheard one of the guys say, "Yep...God's been good to me in spite of me."  When his friend's wife came and took him off, I sat next to this older gentleman and told him I had heard his comment.  He smiled with a twinkle of impishness and said, "You know what Heaven is to me?  Sitting on a bench like this swapping stories and laughter with God."  

 

He must have noticed how his statement gave me pause to think because he chuckled and said, "The bestest friends you have are the ones you have no secrets.  If you are honest with God, you have no secrets and He is your bestest friend, so you can laugh at your mistakes without shame." 

 

What a relationship to strive for!!