1 Samuel 22:23

I had only been at the appointment a brief while when I was asked to come to a home where a lot of mountain living had taken place over many years. There had been a tragic death of a family member and now I was walking the worn path to a house where I had never been. The suit that I was wearing gave me away; I heard someone say, “The preacher is coming.” It was a wet morning partly melting snow, partly mud. The dog greeted me first. It was a big dog with muddy paws. Do you remember the song, “Lipstick on your collar told a tale on you?” How about muddy prints all the way down your coat?

That was the beginning of a great friendship that I have treasured for many years. They made me a part of the clan; and I walked that path to their door other times for both laughter and tears; but never again in a suit.
The matriarch of the family was small in stature, but obviously the one in respected power. I baptized her on a cold snowy day in the local hospital. She was soon to exchange her well-worn path for a gold one and was making final preparations for her crown.

I will never forget that day. The room was full; all the family was present. As I stepped up to her bed, everyone went to their knees in respect for their mother and reverence to God. Some were not church goers, but they were aware that the presence of the Lord was in that place.

I could imagine hearing the singing of an old church choir on the day we walked the grassy path in the family cemetery:

“Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail, and comfort flee
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day.
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changes not, abide with me.”

I do not know why God chooses one to walk this path, and another to walk that one. All I know is that those who share it together in love and friendship are the richest people in the world.