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it’s a little hard to keep up with computer time while on vacation. time is difficult to find. wireless connections even harder. and i still haven’t figured out how to post on my phone.
…and i was starting to think i was really this hip, 56-year old, tech-savvy guy with rob bell glasses.
nope.
the past two days have been a blur. a good blur…but still a blur.
after a couple of days of non-stop memories with our friends damon and cindy, we went to sleep about midnight… after the clippers game on wednesday night. we got up at 4:00am, loaded the rental car and headed north through LA. we decided we would try to get ahead of work traffic. we did, but just barely. it was like we were barely outrunning the crowd up the 405 to the 101…all the way to ventura and santa barbara.
(by the way, for the texas fam…ventura is right by oxnard, which is the home of the cowboys pre-season training camp. and one of my all-time favorite names of california cities. oxnard. it sounds like it should be a town in west texas…)
after a quick nap in the mcdonald’s parking lot, we continued our trek up the california gold coast, through the wine country to atascadero. we stopped for a way-too-quick visit with bob and marolin…some friends who were part of our early-marriage butt-kicking. they’re still kicking butt these days…just in semi-retirement.
then it was on to paso robles to visit pat, dana, wayne and 4-year old davin. pat is one of our dearest friends and former youth workers from our HB days. her husband john was one of the best friends i’ve had in my life. john passed away from cancer a little over a year ago. way too young. pat now lives in the ranch home (complete with three horses) that they built…to spend their lives together in. alone.
after years of prayer and the consistent example of pat, john fully embraced jesus in the last year of his life. it was a very bittersweet 15 hours. remembering john. listening to pat tell of her new life. experiencing the greatness and power of a god who never lets go.
got up the next morning and drove back down the coast…cambria…san simeon (home of the hearst castle)…morro bay for lunch on the wharf (picture at the top)…back down to moorpark to see our old friends mike, brenda, jake, and hannah. after years of friendship in our california days, mike and brenda moved to texas about twelve years ago and actually spent time with us on staff at north point for a couple of years, before moving back to pastor a church in california.
we got to their home town just in time to see their son, jake (he’s now a senior in high school) play a baseball game. we sat in the stands and reminisced through the whole game…and for a couple of more hours over mexican food after the game. it was an awesome time.
on the way back, we drove through downtown LA…saw the glitz and lights of beverly boulavard, universal city, the nokia center (home of american idol) and the capital records tower…before arriving back in huntington beach…and more hours of catching up with our friends mike and steph.
some would say that hours of conversation doesn’t sound much like vacation. but to us, there is nothing finer. it is an amazing thing to have friendships with people that can stand the test of time and distance…to know that you can step right back in…unhindered…no baggage…just good.
are you paying the price to develop friendships that are life-giving…deep…and built on a common belief that god is always present in your relationships?
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