Post Cards from Gordon

I love Gordon. In some ways, he's the Gandalf of my life. I met him six years ago as part of a men's group I participated in - we read through "Wild at Heart" together; me, Jim, Rick and Gordon. We'd meet at 6am at Starbucks...the bigger one, across the street from me now. Those were good days, albeit early. After we finished "Wild at Heart" we went on to read "Waking the Dead", both by John Eldredge. It was such a great experience to gather and talk about God and just be real and human with each other - talk about our hurts, doubts, anger, etc. We didn't have to put on "the church face" with each other.

From time to time over the last six years I've continued meeting with Gordon individually in the morning over coffee just to reconnect and catch up. And over the last six years, Gordon has continued to send me postcards in the mail - ones that he makes himself, adorned with pictures he takes that are significant to him and serve as markers of God moving in his life. I treasure those postcards. I've saved every one. There must be close to 30. It's one of the ways God reminds me He loves me - He has Gordon send me notes, like Mom used to in my lunches.

I met with Gordon again yesterday morning at seven, just as the sun was rising over the Houston skyline. It was gorgeous. And it was a gorgeous time. We'd last met at the beginning of June, so we had a whole summers worth of stuff to catch up on. Gordon is retired and has spent the summer on a personal sabbatical. I smiled when he shared his "summer sabbatical" was coming to an end today because on Saturday I started reading a book by one of his favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, called "Sabbatical Journal" - a publication of the journal entries of the last year of his life, a year he spent in sabbatical. Gordon lit up when he heard this; he hadn't known Henri had written that book and he took it as a little gift from God at the close of his own summer sabbatical. I just love it when God uses the seemingly benign events or things of our lives to bless each other. That coffee yesterday morning was met to be.