A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity Proverb 17:17 NIV
In the Spring of ’86 just as the days were turning warm With the money they had saved they bought the field above the farm And as their boys ran through the hayfield, they watched the cows below Then imagined how their house would look and where the garden ought to go
The Snickels watched their home being built as it took about a year Then they sorted, prayed and planned when they saw the time growing near For the move out to the country and to leave their friends behind Oh, what a great adventure, that they pictured in their mind
But as the seasons came and went, very soon their two boys grew tall While the garden that they planted filled up the canning jars each Fall And their work seemed almost endless, so they hardly noticed how things changed To wake up one day and find their boys lives were being rearranged
The boys left behind their household chores for college and a job And as the little home grew still, the quiet days just seemed so odd It seemed like only yesterday when Snickels pancakes filled each plate Now looking out they watched as now the empty field fill up with flakes
But in their sudden loneliness God spoke His promise true That through the night however long He'd make each sunrise new And on the pathway that we walk He keeps close onto the end And through every year that passes He will be our faithful friend
"To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:3 NKJV
Does it bother you when people forget your name? Are you offended, or at this holiday season when the song says “There’s no place like home for the holidays.”, are you wondering if there is anyone who wants you around or knows what you are going through? In the chapter just before today’s verse, we are introduced to a blind man who receives a more detailed story than anyone else in John’s gospel (except of course Jesus), but we are never told his name. The disciples asked if he were a sinner and his neighbors just referred to him as the blind beggar. His parents simply confessed him as son, then the Pharisees named him; a sinner. Not one person uttered his name. Maybe he felt invisible, anonymous and rejected. But no matter whether, they knew his name, the most important part of this story is that Jesus did! If we keep reading we find that Jesus came to meet him after he was rejected by others and called him individually to believe and follow. Today, just like that blind man, Jesus has come for you. Jesus wants to spend time with you. If no one else on earth remembers you, this Christmas, remember that Jesus has not forgotten. He is calling you and has come to lead you to come and follow someone who will always remember your name!
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 NKJV
When the news came last week that Doug had been in a bad accident on the farm, I wondered if this might be his last. The week that he survived gave us all some time, not only to pray for him and his family but to remember this simple man’s kindness, loyalty to his friends and willingness to help. Doug didn’t read much. Besides repair manuals, the only books I think he ever read were the Boy Scout manual and the Bible. All his life, Doug had struggled with learning. His slight speech impediment also made it difficult for those who were not friends to understand all he said. But at 6 AM on Sunday mornings when the church furnace didn’t come on, Doug got the call. When someone’s car broke down and they couldn’t afford to take it to the garage, he fixed it at his house. Over the thirty plus years we knew him, Doug had rewired two of our homes, and replaced most of the plumbing in one. Doug also helped take care of the farm I managed. When the pipes leaked, the irrigation wouldn’t come on or the fields needed mowing, Doug was there.
But age wasn’t kind with our friend and after a few accidents falling asleep at the wheel, heart surgery and a fire that took out his big garage, Doug was hurting. But just as always, he assured me that he could cut the fields one more year, once he got the old tractor running again and bought 100 gallons of diesel at the crazy high prices of 2022. Then came the phone call that Doug was in intensive care, with nine broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Throughout the last week we all prayed that God would work a miracle and bring him back one more time. But it was not to be. Jesus had made other arrangements for our friend. He had a schedule to keep with the almighty and a home prepared by grace that would never need the furnace serviced. There would be fields to walk through, but never mowed. There is fresh living water that doesn’t run through pipes that freeze up in winter and a place prepared at a table.
No, my friend wasn’t perfect, but he had put His faith in a Savior who was. Despite his failings, he kept hoping to get his kids pointed back in the right direction or help out any neighbor he could. I can hardly believe I can’t call him up today or send him a thank you note for whatever work he had done lately at the farm. Goodbye Doug. May the Lord watch over us both until we meet in that city where there will be no more night, neither tears nor suffering. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for letting us have such a wonderful faithful gentle friend who will be sorely missed.
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