Bring my cloak...

There is an obscure passage in the Bible that describes what happened this past weekend (thanks, Laura, for reminding me). Paul (the man who wrote much of the New Testament and starting many new churches) was in prison and facing the end of his life (he was in prison for preaching about Jesus). In the book called 2 Timothy, he says to his friend, "Come quickly...and bring my claok."

It's a deeply personal look inside the life of this great man. He needed the presence of his friend during a very difficult time. He needed the claok to keep warm. It is also a reminder of the kind of personal friendship that he had with this young man, Timothy.

This past weekend, Rick and Carrie (and Gavin and Eve) came for a visit. They are soul-mates from Buffalo...in our small group, Rick on my leadership team, we shared a lot of life together. Though they didn't bring my cloak, they did bring Wegman's soup!

Having them here was like a drink of water for my thristy soul.

Here's a little recap...

Friday night, they came in just in time for dinner. They got stuck in Chicago traffic...don't arrive here after 230pm...

It was great to just hang out, watch the kids play together, and reconnect. Then Rick taught me a bit on the pool table. He helped remind me how much I hate to lose!

Saturday was a full day. Heidi and Carrie went out for breakfast together while Rick and I wrangled kids. Of course, it was cold, so we couldn't do much outside. Good thing the basement was finished.

I went to a funeral late morning.

After lunch, we went to make good on our tee-time...just me and Rick. We enjoy golfing together. It's a great time to connect, talk, laugh...and laugh some more.

However, the golf course was closed. Even though I had a tee time, they were closed...and didn't bother calling me! It was pretty frustrated. So we drove around looking for an open course. We found one, but they wanted to charge and arm and a leg.

So we spent the next hour at Buffalo Wild Wings, talking over lunch. What a bummer that we couldn't golf...oh, well.

Saturday night, Heidi felt terrible (later we found out that she probably had some sort of flu bug or something). More pool -- more schooling for me.

Sunday...worship at Northwest went well. It was fun to have Musielaks there.

Suday afternoon, Heidi and I had big plans. We took Rick and Carrie to Blue Man Group down in the city. Great show! And then to Bennihana's for dinner. What a great night out together!! May be the highlight of the year so far...so far...

Dee came over to watch the kids... what an amazing gift she gave us in a night out as adults. thank you, Dee!!!

Izak spent much of the night throwing up...such fun. French fries look about the same coming up as they do going down...just in case you were wondering.

Libby starte the puke routine in the morning, just about the time Musielaks were getting ready to leave. We're still trying to get the smell out of the carpet...yummmm.

It was great to see them...share some life together. But it was very hard to see them leave again. I've been in a bit of a funk since they left. Sure, I've had the flu (thanks, kids), but my heart has also been heavy. Good friends. Soul-mates.

Come quickly...and bring my cloak. Mission accomplished.

Peace,

Matt