Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor; 10 for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up! 11 Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
If you have been paying attention, this is the same scripture that I used in my most recent TGIF message two weeks ago. Last week I was unable to send out a TGIF since Cindy and I took a long weekend to visit some dear friends of almost 35 years that we had not now seen in about 5 years, mainly due to COVID.
As I began thinking about this week’s message, I thought more about my last message. That message focused on people who are lonely, feel forgotten, and have the feeling that life has no meaning for them anymore, that they have no hope. These folks too often turn to drug use and overdosing, and also to suicide too often. That message focused on our need to focus on helping these people before it is too late. As I thought about that previous message again, I felt it would come under the heading of a Prayer Request. Every Sunday at Covenant Church, we raise up our Prayer Requests for members and friends of Covenant Church. This list most weeks will raise up 6-8, maybe as many as 10, individual Prayer Requests for that week. I then send out that list to all our church members and friends, and we will pray for all those people during that week.
We also like to raise up Praise Reports at that same time, because those requests reflect the good news that people have to share from God. Those reports usually acknowledge folks who have had traveling mercies from recent travel, or recovery from some illness or surgery, or even for a very elderly person who lived a long happy life and has now gone home to be with the Lord, such as the recent passing of Edwina Hope.
So the genesis for today’s TGIF is the Praise Report that I have for the trip that Cindy and I took to visit some dear long time friends this past weekend. Cindy and I often talk about the three sources of friendship in life – biological family, church family, and chosen family. Biological and church family are easily defined and need no further introduction. Our Chosen Family is the set of friends we accumulate during a lifetime and is focused on those who have remained good friends for many years. It is those friends who you may not see for a few years (or many years), and when you see each other again it is like you were with them just yesterday. You have so many fond memories that you can relive, and you catch up with your friends on their children and grandchildren, and even great grandchildren if they are that blessed!
Cindy and I moved to Gainesville Florida in 1970, expecting to be here for two years. Instead, God’s plan for us was to remain here for now almost 54 years. The day we arrived in Gainesville we met a couple, also from PA where we grew up, and to this day they have been part of our Chosen Family. Five years later, when I received my PhD in statistics and was blessed to get a job at UF, Cindy and I bought our first house. The day we moved into that house, we met our neighbors who we were told by the folks who sold us our house that we needed to meet them. Those friends have also been part of our Chosen Family now for almost 50 years, and they built their new house across the street from the new home we built in Gainesville over 40 years ago. Cindy and I have added other long-time Chosen Family members over the years, including the family we visited this past weekend.
I sincerely hope that your life has also been blessed by the addition of Chosen Family to your biological and church families. The accountability of folks from all three groups is invaluable to ensuring that we each live a God-centered life. Blessed is your Chosen Family who is geographically close throughout your life, and also those who you only see occasionally due to the geographical distance between you, but who are close to you in your heart also.
Proverbs 18:24 – A person of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:9 – Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and a person’s advice is sweet to his friend.