I love life! Don't you? True friends riding along with us make the entire journey worth it! Life is so very fragile and temporary though. Many of my friends have cancer. And yesterday I received a text from a friend whose wife was just admitted to the ER suffering from a heart attack. Prayer should be our first reaction and our best defence against the bumps in life's road. Prayer is refreshing water during the long, dry and parched journey through the desert valleys that we all walk through.
As many of you know I have been without steady work for almost two years. I have tried advertising, sale pitches and fasting and prayer. As my son Erik put it while talking to a group of his friends " My dad just cant get a break!".
One day as I was running my errands I stopped at the Old Firehouse Barber Shop located in Alpine CA. Dean Poore, the owner, listened to me talk about my plight while he snipped and cut at my hair. Have you ever noticed that if the barber is enjoying the conversation that they will cut very slowly and prolong the cut. Dean listened to me and afterward offered me a remodeling job on his own kitchen. He also did not charge me for the hair cut. That simple act of grace really encouraged me that day.
On another occasion in the midst of the same dry spell it seemed like all my electrical appliances were dying one after another. First our heating and air conditioning system failed in July followed by clothes dryer, cooking range, well pump and our refrigerator. The air system and well pump cost over $10,000 alone to replace. So after the refrigerator broke last night Pam and I turned towards one another, smiled and laughed out loud! What else was there to do? Pam is my wife but she is also my very best friend.
When our well pump went out that did tend to complicate life for our family. You see we get our water from the ground and when our tank is empty we have no water to wash, drink or shower with. So I called our well guy, Orin Davis of Butler Drilling, and he said he could be there in a week. "A week" I said to myself "What am I going to tell my wife?". Pam does at least 10 loads of laundry per week and waters the trees and plants around our home. I knew we were going to have a bad week.
The next day as our booster pump was spinning out of control the telephone rings. It was Mert Thomas who runs a local water truck business "Hey Dean, I heard you need a load of water?" said Mert with concern in his voice. "I do how much are you charging these days?" I sheepishly inquired. "Well $200 per load" Mert replied. "OK, I need it badly bring it on over" I gratefully replied.
Mert Thomas had already put in a full day of work but he filled his truck one more time and brought our family a load of water. After the very last drop fell into our tank I asked Mert how much I owed him. He said he knew of my situation and said just to pay $ 100 to cover the water and the truck's fuel. As I went into the house for the money I hear Mert taking off in his truck and with a wave and he says Goodbye and "God is so very good. This one's on me!" I will never be able to repay him.
What would we do without friends like these? In fact the only thing we will take to heaven when we leave this earth is our relationships with others. I truly love these men. And now work is starting to come in for me which is an answer to prayer. And I learned a very valuable lesson while walking through this latest valley. I have some very amazing and loyal friends. People I would lay down my life for. I love life! It really is all about the journey.
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