A Godly Example.

Tonight I had the honor and privilege of dining with three men that I engage with regularly in my life here in the city. It was to be a meeting, and then a dinner to celebrate kallen's 50th. It turned out being a wonderful enjoyable evening. These three men have a strong presence in my life, and I am so very thankful to have them in my life. As I look back at the last few years, there are three different stories here. One is pastor, and as you have read, he has helped me to grow and stretch tremendously over the last few years. Another is cramdon, and his friendship continues to grow in my heart, and I enjoy spending time with him more and more, and enjoy getting to know him on a deeper level as we engage in life with each other, and work to follow Jesus and build His church. But alas, now I have come to the reason for this post. At dinner, we spend a lot of time talking about communitas nyc, and spend a limited time talking about turning 50, bucket lists, and the like. But as I took the train home tonight, I reflected on kallen's impact on me as a man. He has always been a strong example of a man following God in his life, his marriage, and as a father. We talked about the fact that his daughter will be 21 in a couple of weeks, and that freaks me out in a way. She was just a little girl when I met the k's, and now a young woman in college. The thing about kallen is that he will not like this post. He will be the first to admit he is not perfect, and makes mistakes. But you should know kallen that your love, your commitment to processing life in a Godly way, and your humility have taught me so much, and I came to realize it is nearly 20 years that I have known you and you have had that impact. I want the world to know that if you asked me what I would like my life to look like in 10 years, I would say like kallen's. That seems counterintuitive as kallen might tell you about this past year. Struggles abound with his family. The health of his body, surgery, recovery, etc. Finances that some day in the past seemed promising to a great extent, only to be happy to not have to go bankrupt (yet). Living in a world of unknowns and not certain of outcomes with any segment of his life. (You read that this is what I want my life to look like in 10 years, right?) Why do I want to grow up to be like him? Because he follows God. He believes in Jesus. Even though he will tell you it is a struggle to share that at work. He loves the Lord. He trusts God with his heart. And that is what I want to be like. Even in what perhaps has been one of the roughest years of his life, he continues to worship Jesus in the midst of pain, sorrow, and uncertainty. And I love him so. Even if he doesn't like it when I hug him, perhaps a little too long, I know that he loves me with all my junk. I know that he cares deeply about my wife and kids, simply because they are my wife and kids. There are only a few men that I can possibly put on a list entitled "Godly Examples in My Life", but you my friend Kallen are certainly on that list forever more. Happy Birthday my friend. May God bless you this year with health, prosperity, and healing. I hope I can be just like you when I grow up. Much love.

Comments

Romantic Dinner said…
Oh Your Nice looking and your recently post very fantastic . really i like that and very nice details shared in the post . great idea for godly example. very best your thought
February 23, 2011 at 6:07 AM
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