(L-R: Mark Eby, Ken Browne, Nancy Browne, Russ Proctor, Pam Proctor, Cindy Eby, Pam Marshall, Ann Strubler. Todd M took the picture and Dave Strubler was on his way home from WV).
Todd and I (Pam) were invited over to Mark and Cindy Eby's home Friday night because Russ and Pam Proctor, who live in northern KY, were in town for a relative's wedding this weekend. Local Birmingham residents, Ken and Nancy Browne, were also free Friday evening, as well as Ann Strubler. (Ann's husband, Dave, who was on his way back from a white water rafting trip in WV with one of his sons, tried to make it to Eby's, but by the time he got close to 30 minutes of Eby's home, it was 1:00 a.m. and we were all trying to wind things down.)Even though I have seen Ann and the Eby's this year, it had been 2 years since I saw Pam and Russ and around 10 years for the Browne's! Russ, Ken, Nancy, Mark, Cindy and Todd all knew each other at Covenant Baptist Church in the mid 1970's. Pam P. lived in IL during this time and was not married yet to Russ, and I was also single, but began attending Covenant with Todd and met Russ, Ken, Nancy, Mark & Cindy through the young adults Sunday school class. Eventually, Russ, the Eby's, Todd and I (not yet married) made weekend trips to the Chicago/Downers Grove area periodically, being challenged and drawn to a covenant fellowship there where Pam P. was. In due time we were told of a similar fellowship located in downtown Rochester, so the Eby's and Todd and I ended up being members there, and August 6, 1983, Todd and I were married in that church (though the actual ceremony took place in my parent's church because Rochester Fellowship only rented the small downtown park building.) Russ and Pam were married in March 1982 in IL. Ann comes into the picture, when in 1980, she moved to the Detroit area hired by the DSO as a violinist (which she still is today). Dave Strubler was a member of Rochester Fellowship, Ann found out about our fellowship somehow and began attending, and in Oct. 1984 they married. It is amazing how the Lord has had us cross paths and how rich he has made these relationships. Even though we all attend different types of churches, when we gather, as we did Friday night, we pick up the conversation easily as if 20 some years haven't yet passed. But they have!
Most of us have young adult children now! We all are grateful that we have strong marriages and great children.
I say all this to give some context of how God brought us together as friends. I really cannot retell the stories shared last night because as they say, "you just had to be there". And even that isn't enough because I am talking about 20 plus years of reminiscing and laughing about many of the goofy, yet innocent things we did together in some fashion or another.
Last night was testimony to God's truth that "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance" (Prov. 15:13); "...but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast" (Prov. 15:15); and "A merry heart does good, like a medicine... (Prov. 17:22). Many of us laughed till we cried, holding our sides and forecasting that we would be sore tomorrw because of all of the guffaws. Todd and I are thankful to the Lord for these dear, "old" friends. They have enriched our lives. Yes, we were once younger, loving life and laughing together, yet growing in God. Now, we are definitely older, more mature made through life's experiences, yet still loving life and growing in God. And we can still laugh!
Mention needs to be made that our group was missing many dear couples who have been part of this circle. Kathy and Rudy Soto and Craig and Carol Mungons were sorely missed! Your added laughter probably would have pushed us to the limit!
Thank you, Mark and Cindy, for pulling this together at the last minute!
No comments:
Post a Comment