As Lenora and I prepare for another adventure in ministry, I have been reflecting upon all the good friends we have made through our travels.  Idaho, California, Texas… we have dear friends in every locale.  What a blessing!

Having spent the last six wonderful years here in Florence, we are grieving to leave our dear friends.  No more last-minute lunch appointments, no more football parties in our living room, and no more Sunday Dinners at Casa.  Things will be different, and although we know that new friends await us in Arkansas, real friends can never be replaced, only substituted.

But… we are Christians!

This simple fact changes everything.  Even though we answer God’s call and leave the people who have made this “home,” we KNOW that it isn’t our REAL HOME.  We are going there someday… and we are going TOGETHER!

The song by Michael W. Smith comforts me in these moments,

“For Friends are Friend Forever, if the Lord is the Lord of them…”

To all of our friends in Florence… WE LOVE YOU.