Socializing Offline This Past Week

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An old college friend and his wife came to visit us last Thursday. They have spent a good part of their adult lives as missionaries in Kenya disciplining students. Health issues forced them to come home to Tulsa. We haven't seen them in decades. They made a trip west this past two weeks to connect with old friends and we spent a wonderful afternoon together last Thursday. Millard was the one who introduced me to my husband when we all lived in the Dykstra Hall dorm together in 1962. Millard's wife took this photo of the two of us with Millard in my front yard. When they arrived at our house, we went to lunch together and then came back to talk at the house. After about an hour, Shirley decided she'd like to see our house in Templeton and photograph some oak trees we passed in wine country on the way. I took her there while the men stayed in Paso to keep talking. We came back to Paso about two hours later. What I hadn't counted on was that Shirley was also a gardener. When she saw my garden she asked for some cuttings and root divisions. She is more disabled than I, so guess who did the digging? It was a hot day, and by the time our friends left I was dead tired. Millard wasn't exactly thrilled with having to find room in their crowded car for the box of plants, either. This was the first time in a long time I've actually sat down and talked with friends. Except for shopping and meetings, I'm pretty much a hermit. I decided I really need to change that. Tonight I went to the first meeting of a new women's Bible study group which meets in a home. Since I don't make it to church much anymore, I decided I really should be meeting with other Christians from my church instead of isolating myself. I have no excuse for avoiding a night meeting. Only five of us were there for this first meeting, and I was probably twice the age of the others, but that's OK. I only knew two of the others there, and I'm glad we started small. I expect those who couldn't come this week will show up next week. I sense it will be time well spent and force me out of isolation. I think I know why God has me there. The reason I haven't been here much lately is that I was busy preparing to have our guests and then spending time with them. I also had a blog post due that had to be done by midnight last night. The other project demands a post of its own. Have you seen any old friends lately?