Brad and Debbie Ellgen

Last night I was at the wedding of a good friend who lives in Phoenix. This morning I am on a plane flying to Denver and as I think about the wedding I attended I find it hard to keep from crying. (I am trying hard to control myself so as not to upset others around me.) I saw some really good friends at the wedding, friends I haven’t seen for a while and I was reminded how much I love them and how I miss seeing them on a regular basis. These good friends reminded me of other good friends who were not at the wedding and I am reminded how many people I love who live 5,000 miles from where God has taken me. For the first half hour of the flight I was reading a book my friend John has written. (Great book called Sages and Lunatics; you should ALL buy a copy right away at amazon.com). As I read his book I hear his voice and at several points his writing makes me laugh out loud. Hearing his voice reminds me how much I miss him and a little group of us that use to gather once a week for coffee. I HATE the loss relationships which occur because of moving, and it seems I have lost so many this way. For years I lost relationships because the people I loved moved away from me. I was working in an Army community and people in the Army move often, it the nature of the Army. Then I lived and worked in Denver and I moved to Phoenix. It hurt so badly I said I would never chose to move away again. I had a plan to live with the people I loved so deeply until I died. Then others made decisions that forced me to move again. Now I am back in an Army community and just about the time I get to know and love the soldiers in Baumholder they move away. I hate this moving. I thank God that he has allowed me to know so many people so well. I thank God that I call so many great people my friends. I also believe that my moving and theirs is by His design. I think the pain I am feeling is the cost I pay for following God’s call and loving people. Not that I have been all that good at either following God or loving people, but to the degree that I have there is pain. I have always taught that loving God and loving others will lead to pain. So as I fly this morning I feel the pain of loss. But I am also grateful for the pain for how empty would my life be if I didn’t feel the pain of loss relationship.