Posted in Lessons I Have Learned

Today is my friend Matt's birthday so I am crawling out from underneath my rock to tell you a little about him...

Matt and I met when we were 12 years old in Emporia, Kansas.  We were in choir together at Louther Middle School and it didn't take long for him to stand out in the crowd.  You see, I believed in God at the time, but Matt LIVED for God!  I had never met anyone quite like him.  He talked about Christ in a way that made Him seem like a real person, not just a Bible story figure. Not only did he talk about Him he lived for Him.  He was kind and always had time for everyone.  He was never shy about sharing his faith and everyone it seemed was drawn to him.  On top of all of  this he was a big ole' goofball, which made him a blast to be around!  I quickly decided that he was the love of my life!  Our romances lasted a good couple of months!  LOL  Then something wonderful happened...We became FRIENDS!  During the romance period of our relationship Matt invited me to church.  I went of course because he was cute!  Little did I know that invitation would change my life for eternity.  Matt led me to the Lord.  I had gone to church all my life and finally at the the age of 13 all the things I had heard finally made sense and I knew that I needed Christ as my Savior!  The story would be a happy one if it ended there.  The truth is it could and should have ended there because my family soon after moved away.  What are the chances of two 13 year olds keeping in touch?  Well, we did keep in touch and over the years Matt has been a constant friend, counselor & Pastor to me.  Through the years we have laughed over silly things, rejoiced over happy times and mourned through several deaths together.  As everyone expected Matt became a Pastor and in 1989 he performed his 1st wedding!  It was mine to my wonderful husband!  (Matt also walked me down the aisle and sang a song he had written for his brothers wedding a few years before.  This guy can do it all! )  In 1996 when my Dad passed away Matt was there for me again.  He came and spoke at the funeral and supported me through a very tough time in my life.  I have always known I can count on him and since I do not I have a brother I think of him as the brother I have never had.

Matt has always been the person I can call or email with a prayer request.  I have called him in tears when our 1st child died and called him with shouts of joy at the birth of my first son.  I have rejoiced with him as he and his wonderful wife have had kids and gone through this journey called life.  The funny thing is that over the last 30 years since my family moved away Matt and I have one "seen" each other about a dozen times.  But that doesn't seem to matter.  In good times and bad we have consistently been there for each other. I was thinking today about my earlier post about my struggle with moving from place to place and not feeling I have continuity in my life. I realized that Matt is one place I can go and feel "home".  He has known me through my good times and my bad and he still chooses to be my friend.  What a blessing!

Yesterday I came across some PodCast Sermons of Matt's that he has online.  I have been greatly blessed in the last couple days listening to them so I thought I would share them here.  (I have also put them on my sidebar for easy access.)  You will laugh, you will cry and you may even rewind a couple times to see if he really just said that!? LOL  (Yeah, he's still a big ole' goofball! )  If you only have time to listen to one start with "simple"  It is so awesome!

CLICK HERE to go to Matt's PodCasts.


If you have a friend like Matt I encourage you to take a moment to thank God for them.  Then call them up and tell them THANKS for all you have been in my life!