Bill & Stephannie at Lake Louise

Friendship is such a treasure and a gift from above. There is a whole chapter about it in my recently published book, and of course it’s the major theme even from the title, “A Friend of the King.” Elizabeth and I were blessed in college to find and get to know several special friends, two of which are Bill and Stephannie. Our friendship now spans almost four decades, and although we’ve not often lived close to each other, they moved back to NWA a few years ago and we’ve reconnected. It’s the kind of friendship where nothing has changed; we just take up were we left off. We enjoy each other, and we’re loyal and devoted to each other.

We thought it best to practice on a small Fort Smith train

Life brings plenty of challenges, but when you see your friends from way back, continue to grow in their faith, pour into their family, their church, and their community, you really appreciate them more–for standing, for sacrifice, for service, for faithfulness. Noble people you’re happy to call “friends,” and happy they too are friends of the King.

Living as we do in busy times, with busy lives and busy schedules; the desire to be with each other and share the journey has caused us to fight the trend and slow ourselves to spend time together in Fort Smith and Fayetteville. Eventually it led us to get out of town on an epic (in my mind anyway) week trip to Canada, riding the train across the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia and ending up at Lake Louise in Banff National Park of Alberta. The dates were set,  the planning put into motion, and before we knew it we were on our way on a beautiful friendship vacation to enjoy some of God’s most beautiful creation and to hang out together relaxing and resting. What a concept!

British Columbia by rail

What a blessing from the Lord! One for which both couples are very grateful. We can and should enjoy friendship at work and at rest. It gives both activities more meaning and joy. I think it’s something God intended for us to enjoy, and He enjoys with us.

Besides catching up on children, grand children, and the funny ways the Lord has led us and blessed us, we also shared our kingdom activity and interests. The time afforded us windows into kingdom work in each others churches and communities. We heard about the two Ethiopian kids their daughter and her husband have adopted and an orphanage they support through a foundation they started. I shared I had just left Camp Hope the day before, and when we touched down in Vancouver, I received the following text from a friend at the camp which excited them.

Big Horn Sheep

“Hey brother, thought you might want to know, 19 kids gave their heart to Jesus at camp. The spirit fell heavy on camp at noon on Friday and never left. I had 4 children in front of me at one time, eyes filled with tears, waiting to give their heart to the Lord …. God is so good!!”

Hearing and sharing heart warming reports like this is wonderful. It reminds you of the old saying about friendship. “Friendship divides our sorrow and multiplies our joy.”

Breakfast with Friends

At work or at rest, let’s purpose to do each with friends more and more in the days we have left. I don’t know about you, but in our day I think slowing and resting is probably  more needed.

If you  slow to ask Him, He’ll lead. I recently got acquainted with Psalm 23 anew. It’s clear from this passage that “He leads.” But I noticed that the first thing He does is He  “makes us lie down in green pastures.” He makes us lie down and rest in a beautiful, pleasant place. Sounds inviting doesn’t it? It’s what’s in His heart for us. It’s what He did for us on this trip, and perhaps is doing for you in this season, or wants to. Be sensitive. Be willing. Be listening for His voice and leading. Godspeed as you follow.

“The LORD is my Shepard, I shall not want…”

 “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,” (Isaiah 30:15)

Postscript: Just after returning from our trip, Stephannie was injured in an exercising accident and broke her right ankle in three places. Please pray for healing and for the family.

Items Found in the Woods Near the Old Man’s House

I couldn’t really describe the Moore experience in a thousand blogs, and I don’t really need to. I simply got a call from a friend saying there was a need to help some people and an opportunity to serve. To give up a day of my life to help some people whose lives were in ruins at the moment, and to enjoy the company of some friends in helping, that seemed a small sacrifice and a no-brainer. Besides, my good friend Chuck invited me.

As I’ve mentioned, it seemed to me that the Lord saved the best to last that day! We did get to help some people personally, to get really close to where and how they live, to touch each other at a deeply spiritual and human level. And we saw that their main needs were not really material but moral, mental, spiritual, and emotional.

This situation is typical I’m sure, but the man and the encounter I’m going to describe to you is anything but typical. Really all people are atypical. They have their own lives, how they’ve lived them, and their own stories.

The picture of this old man, poor, but kept, with strength and dignity is what looms large in my mind from Moore, and it will forever. It was a deeply fulfilling, touching, holy moment for me as Chuck and I stood on his steps and he on his porch, the porch of the only standing house within view.

We had done some debris removal and physical labor next door for his neighbor with the storm cellar, but there wasn’t much to be done physically any longer. An army of Mennonites with bobcats and chainsaws had swept in to help along with others. They had water and food. The long process of rebuilding would begin in time.

The old man conveyed that to us, along with his profound, heart-felt gratitude for all the help he’d received. “People have been so good to us,” he said reflecting, followed by a single large tear streaming from his right eye to his chin.

There was some silence, and pause; none of this happened quickly. My friend Chuck said, “Looks like you could use a hug.” I was grateful he said that, because I was feeling the same thing, but not knowing what to do or say. The old man nodded his head slowly up and down. Chuck climbed up on the porch, and gave him a long, strong manly hug. With the both of them facing me and our Israeli friend, the tears began to flow like streams from both eyes. No sobbing or crying, just streams as the man looked out over the rolling hills toward the horizon. Silence followed. Time. Open ears and open hearts.

The stress of the tornado and destruction all around them had brought some real and deep life issues to the surface; issues not easily, if ever, shared with strangers. The old man began to speak. “The day of the tornado, my grandson cursed me and my wife. We raised him, but I told him he wasn’t acting like a Frazer*, and I thought it best that he leave our home, and he did.” After some silence I said, “Can I pray for you and your grandson?” He said, “Please do.” Our hats removed, I asked God to have mercy on everyone involved, to forgive and protect the young man, and to restore the relationship in time. The old man nodded his agreement and appreciation, and added with more tears streaming down his face, “Please pray for my little great granddaughter Kennedy, I don’t know what will become of her?” I did immediately and I have ever since. Please join me in a prayer for Kennedy if you will.

That old man showed me something I wasn’t expecting in that moment. I came to help, but I received help, insight, and instruction.

He showed me the heart of a real man; a heart that beats for his children, and his children’s children. A heart of sacrifice. A heart that never stops caring. Never stops standing for them.

Friends in the Service of the King

I think I saw the heart of God.

Photos from our time in Moore

* Name changed for privacy.

We’re all here to help the cause of children, the fatherless, and gratitude for the gift of life!

Several of Matt & Ginny’s close friends initiate and host a book launching party for Matt in the city of his birth-through-high-school years, Fort Smith, Arkansas, on the evening of June 27th, 2013. On the same day a nice article appeared in the Arkansas Gazzette puting out the word about the book launch. Many old and new friends came together to bless the Mooneys, their new book, and support their worthy foundation, 99 Balloons! The event was a huge success, with every book being sold in addition to some very large donations. Thanks to everyone who came and everyone who helped, especially the host of friends, and the friends who were the hosts. Enjoy the photos!

Video introduction to the book “A Story Unfinished” by Matt Mooney

Beautiful venue!

Matt & his Dad

A good friend called two days ago with the opportunity to go help the tornado victims in Moore OK, something I had been interested in doing, but has become harder and more complicated since lawyers and bureaucrats have been active in Katrina and Joplin. Alerted at 8:00 p.m. the night before, I showed up in a local church parking lot at 5:30 a.m. yesterday to drive three hours to OKC to help. The destruction and devastation is widespread and in some places complete, as images from television have depicted. It was surreal driving through some of it on I-35. The traffic and people going about their daily business seemed normal; while homes and lives all around were devastated.

Interestingly, this seems to me a small picture of our culture and Christian landscape in America these days… people going about their daily business while lives all around are devastated. This would be confirmed to me by days end.

Our Methodist team from Van Buren & Fort Smith joined with five Baptist men from Ada OK and were put under the supervision of an Israeli team mobilized to help in such disasters, who themselves were working under a disaster response team from Joyce Meyer Ministries, a team now operating out of Church of the Harvest, south campus, near Moore. Interesting huh? The community of God is very far reaching, large, and functions like nothing we really comprehend or can imagine. There are valid reasons for our local church boundaries; and there are at least two valid reasons to get outside of them.

I was just there to help any way I could, to observe, and hopefully get some meaningful contact with people who were directly affected. But I was really there to spend a day with some old and new friends, help some people in real need, and to serve the King doing both. Whatever our hands found to do would be fine with me.

Then it happened. About 3:00 p.m., we broke for lunch at an American Indian tribal donation  center about forty-five minutes east of Moore in an area that had also been hit hard. We had earlier in the day helped move a mountain of trash and debris into dumpsters while they were repeatedly emptied by a big trash truck. We then made three logistics runs, I call them, moving supplies from distribution centers at churches (who had made themselves into warehouses), to similar churches where the supplies were needed for families. It looked as if that’s the way our day would end when two pickup trucks with large trailers from a Baptist Church near Atlanta GA pulled up and took our last big load back to Destiny Church OKC in our place, freeing us to call for an assignment to help families in need.

I’ll describe what happened next in another blog post. This one has gotten too long. I’ll summarize like this: Walking along side Lance, who turned thirty-four the day of the tornado, looking at his destroyed home and property ten yards from the storm cellar where he and some neighbors rode out the storm, surviving with no one hurt or lost…

It seemed to me, and to all our team, that Less is Moore.