March 23, 2023

A Blessing from God

"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other."
1 John 4:11

Lynn and I were blessed to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary last year. Thanks to our sneaky family and friends, we got to celebrate with them at a surprise anniversary party. And I thought I was just going to enjoy a barbecued rib dinner at a friend’s house.

I thank God every day for my family and my friends, including my church family. Good times or bad, high times or low, it a blessing to know they’ve “got my back.”

It occurred to me that in the same way we celebrated our marriage, amid loving family and friends, we got to share our 50th anniversary amid loving family and friends. We reminisced and got to share a very nice PowerPoint presentation (gotta love shag carpets, harvest gold, and avocado green, right?) prepared by, you guessed it, family and friends. (Where did they dig up those old pictures?)

Friends and families are blessing from God, and I am more than grateful for those in my life.

Fred Van de Putte