Be Present.

When I was growing up, my house was always full of love, laughter and light. Around our dining room table, my friends, my parents and I solved all the world's problems one chip, one bite of queso and one bite of Blue Bell ice cream at a time. In the wee hours of the morning, my friends and I handled even more serious problems huddled in sleeping bags, eating way too many M & M's or throwing astronomical amounts of toilet paper in all of the neighbor's trees. On a bus loaded with giddy drill team girls, we solved the problems of everybody else. By the time we arrived in Odessa, all we had to do was high kick down the field. It was a no worry zone. Well, it was until we remembered we were in the stadium which would one day become the subject of a prominent book, Friday Night Lights. Under those lights, we still felt unstoppable. In those days, we did not address important personal matters in an email exchange that stretched from California to Texas. We couldn't phone a friend if anybody else in the house was on the landline. Most importantly, texting wasn't an option. Instead, we were present for one another. I will never forget those precious memories. I am grateful beyond words I don't have to forget them. We can create those same memories today. For just a few weeks ago, I reached out to my friends with great honesty. That same beautiful mom who still gives the best hugs and that same dad who could make you laugh through a good teenager messy cry...They needed all of us to be present with them. My mom and dad needed a hug. They needed joy. They needed to laugh. My friends and the parents of my friends brought hugs, joy, flowers and peace to a skilled nursing room where my anxious mom felt the same sense of calm we once felt on a couch some 40 years ago. My friends and I sat around a table and found so many reasons to bring laughter and joy into a season of heaviness for my dad. In these difficult present moments, he connected to the joy deep in his soul. It is a joy he has always shared beautifully with others. Behind every smile, every hug and every laugh, His presence remained with us. His presence sustained us. His presence transformed us, and we become the great recipients of His love. Thanks be to God!