This weekend was a whirlwind but, oh, so amazing!
My mom arrived Friday evening and the kids were ecstatic. We were able to have birthday time for the "4 Js" Saturday and they all opened their presents from Nana & Papa. I was shocked when we realized she hadn't been here to visit in almost a year! Thankfully we've been to visit them a few times.
Sunday we spent the day in Chapel Hill/Durham area and it was exhausting but such a sweet time together. We were blessed with an amazing worship service at our new church, enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at Chili's (thanks to Nana!), drove around for a bit checking out neighborhoods and apartment complexes, then explored the Duke Gardens.
Duke Gardens is amazing! It's a picture-perfect kind of place to enjoy feeding the ducks at a beautiful pond, letting the kids run free through grassy, open space and throwing a ball or frisbee, and admiring the beautiful vegetation throughout the gardens. We had such a great time!
We ended our day attending the Ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacons at All Saints Church where our close friend, Donnie McDaniel, was ordained. We were honored to witness such an amazing event and excited for what is to come for him, and the others ordained, in their ministries.
_Moose Tracks_ (Theological opining)
I've had a friendship with Donnie McDaniel since the fall of '99. Someone once said that it is very difficult to count the number of friendships on one hand. Wow, is that so true. Despite the current social networking phenomenon (like Facebook) happening in our world today, "friends" are not that easy to make. Now we may have many acquaintances, but friends are a different story. When Christ was fulfilling his ministry, he had many so-called "followers," but there were twelve that he considered to be close to, and of those 12, Scripture seems to portray that Jesus had an even closer friendship with 3: Peter, James, and John. Indeed, one could argue that maybe the Lord didn't really have friends, at least when one looks at how they left him during his time of accusation and crucifixion. Nevertheless, Jesus called them his friends. And after Pentecost, those friends (apostles, except for Judas Iscariot) were loyal to Jesus until their death proclaiming him as Lord and Messiah.
I have several friends and am thankful for their friendship. Indeed, it would be very difficult to deal with the struggles, temptations, and victories in life without friendship. Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, points out that true happiness (of the wholesome account not necessarily pleasure seeking) comes from a virtuous friendship. A virtuous friendship is one where two people have a friendship based on the virtue that each one possesses in order to always promote the good of the other. In other words, it is friendship that is unconditional. One is not using the other to attain anything for their own selfish gain. Aristotle even claims that "Anyone who is to be happy, then, must have excellent friends."
We weep with our friends. We rejoice with our friends. Last night on Sep. 18, 2011, I rejoiced with my friend as he was ordained to the diaconate in the Anglican Mission in America. Donnie has a servant's heart and desires to serve the Church through many ways. He will do well since God has enabled him and is making him into a virtuous, godly man, even conforming him to the image of Christ. What is amazing, is that as friends, we have noticed how God is taking us along the same track, the same journey so to speak. It's hard to believe that 12 years ago we would be where we are today. Donnie is an excellent friend. I thank my God for the friendship that I have with Donnie McDaniel. He has sharpened me as I hope I have sharpened him and it is great to see how God is blessing and using him for the kingdom. Value the friendships that you make (outside of Facebook, as well as through Facebook) and see how God uses your relationships with others to make you more a virtuous and godly person.
Still Running,
Moose
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