A much needed break
Last weekend, I finally had the opportunity to get out of Fresno for more than one day…I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to me, it was like a month long vacation.
The highlight of my two day excursion into Southern California was seeing my good friends Dave, Duane, and Neil sing in person…that concert is described in the post just below this post.
But that was only one highlight among many…the trip was a much needed blessing. I am so glad I had that the chance to go and reclaim a major part of my life.
Certainly a major part of my life is Bruce Baloian, now a professor at Azusa Pacific University, and the personnel director for the Fresno area Youth For Christ when I first met him some 31 years ago. He was also leader of a couple of Campus Life clubs, one of them in Kerman, the town I grew up in.
Besides all that, Bruce was a man who spent a LOT of time explaining Jesus Christ to me while I was battling adolescent depression of the most insidious sort. I must have driven Bruce nuts trying to prove to him how wrong he was about God…but he never gave up. He kept being there as a friend, and never stopped trying to convince me that Christ was the only answer for me.
To make a long story short, he won…and on October 19, 1975 at 8:22 PM, I finally surrendered my heart and soul to Jesus Christ…and my life changed forever.
I had not seen Bruce in nearly five years when I came down to see him Friday, and we had a very nice day of reliving old acquaintances, including a very nice dinner he and his wife Karin treated me, too. Needless to say, spending time with Bruce and Karin was a major highlight of my trip as well.
One other person I was determined to see was my dear friend Nicole. I had not seen her for nearly five years, either…and I had missed her sunny disposition and her bright smile. Nicole loves Jesus as much as anyone I know, and in the past she has never failed to make Christ’s love evident to me in all she says and does. I HAD to see her.
As noted in the last post, I wanted Nicole to see Dave, Duane, and Neil with me…I knew she would enjoy the music, and I was also positive that she would admire my newest friends for their Christian commitment and walk. I was absolutely right…she loved their music, and she loved the guys as well. In so doing, I was able to do her a kind turn as well…and I was glad to give something to HER for a change. We both drew strength from seeing each other again…and that was also a major highlight of my trip.
And of course, it goes without saying that seeing Dave, Duane, and Neil was the coup de grace of it all. I got to spend quality fellowship time with all three men, and had a wonderful time catching up with what was going on in Neil’s life and world. And I even managed to get a couple of pictures taken…and this is something, because I hate seeing pictures of myself. But I got one of Nicole, Neil, and me…and one of just Neil and me…and that made me proud. If I can learn how to post pictures on here, I’ll post them once I get them.
All in all, my “retreat” was an unqualified success…everything I hoped it would be, and then some. God is really good to His “kids”, you know?
Posted on Oct 11, 2006 - 09:29 PM | [0]
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