Nick Is Here

Last night, me and Zach, one of the guys here on mission with The Crash, made our way to Portland.  Great conversation ensued, but there was a longing to hurry and get there.  The reason being is that Nick and Brandi Longshore were flying in to hang out for a week.  It was so awesome to be able to sit around and joke again with them.  I've missed them much.  Last night as I was going to sleep I began asking myself why I felt all this emotion with the idea of my friends hanging out in Eugene this week.  I came up with two answers.

  1. Nick and Brandi are fellow bondservants.  Throughout the Gospel Paul writes to people with such love and compassion.  He talks of longing to see them and how he rejoices in hearing about their stories.  It seems that he misses these people so much.  He calls Timothy his dear son.  It seems that people Paul had ministered with held special places in his heart.  That's what I feel with Nick and Brandi.  They were part of the plant team at Lifepoint and we ministered together for five years.  We saw amazing things and hard things, but through it all we were able to grow in love and in Christ together.  I think it akin to people who fight battles together in life.  There becomes this connection that you can't really explain.  Where you can kind of figure out what the other person is thinking in a given situation, because you have been there with them.  I'm so excited to be developing this with team members I now serve with, but it was just refreshing to have a veteran bondservant around for a few days.  Especially one that I felt like we served so well together.
  2. I just wanted to be able to show someone who I pioneered with before what things are looking like here.  I hope to get some insight and new ideas from them.  I hope to be able to gripe about struggles and get a new set of eyes looking at details I might have forgotten.  

Ultimately God has given us many amazing friends and fellow servants of the Gospel that we have at times and are still pouring our life out with.  I love any opportunity God gives us to hang out with those we are not currently privileged to be ministering with.

Paul writes to Timothy out of love and ends his second letter just wanting Timothy to come.
2 Timothy 4:21 says, "Do your best to come before winter."
He just really wanted to see his friend.






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