Paths Crossed

I will always say that I have been and in fact continue to be a lucky man. I can hear one of my long time friends now saying, "What is this luck of which you speak?" He both sees our own responsibility in directing our lives and knows that God's hand is also working along the way if we let Him. In line with that thinking perhaps I would be more accurate if I said I am a fortunate man. I have been spending time with family and friends this summer as many of you know. The family part, including my daughter, my son and my grandadults are a given they as a natural progression of my family line. I am no less fortunate in this area than the other in that they all make me happy and I enjoy being with them. It is the non family group that surprises me every time. I should not be surprised but I am. I am fortunate that my life continues to cross paths with some extraordinary people. I will end this week sleeping in four different beds and spending time in four different homes. Among the many people with whom my path has crossed these four are very special ones to me, but so many others are as well. In these four homes, in our relationships, God has created a unique place for all of us. God is clearly in the midst of our time, sometimes in what we say, sometimes just in what we know, often in our shared memories of events where we have seen God's hand move powerfully. We walk into a room together after a year or so and we are not just flooded with the memories of happy times together of ball games and parties, but the added memories that remind us of all God has done and all God can do. Relationships that continue to build our confidence in a God who never fails, who was and is and is to come, who sits in our midst always sometimes when we're unaware. I will go back to Myrtle Beach after having really spent time with a select few of those lives that have crossed paths with me in this way, where God's hand would be remembered as well as sharing life. That's what makes me such a fortunate man. I go back to Myrtle Beach knowing that God has opened the door in a new arena in my life where my life is already crossing paths with more people. A life where we share not only warm positive happy times but added to that the obvious hand of God at work in our lives. And on it goes, I am a fortunate man.