25 Years of Friendship

It was over 25 years ago that Patrick and I said "I Do" and moved to Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York.  That was far away from Florida, that's for sure!  Patrick had been stationed there for about 7 months before we were married and got to know some of his coworkers, but I didn't know anyone.  We quickly found a church not far from base, Bible Baptist Church.  We felt loved immediately.  In this church was a caring Pastor and a small group of families that made a difference in our life.  They were real.

There was one couple in particular that stood out to us, and that was Tom and Laura Green.  They loved the Lord and had such a zeal for life that we knew that's the life we wanted to live as well!  The power of influence!!

It has been fun staying in touch all these years.  Their children have grown and they added a few more.  Our family has grown as well.  And our friendship continued.

We were excited when we found out they were coming for a visit!  Yay!  It was so good to catch up with them and to have our newest children meet their son.

It was fun to do some touristy things with them.  I always enjoy the wonderful area we live in!
We took them to St. Augustine and saw the Castillo de San Marcos Fort.

 It was fun to watch the soldiers fire the cannon over the bay.

Not too long ago I told our ladies to find an object that when they see it, they will be reminded of God's Love.  Mine is the seagull.  It's amazing the times they show up!  He loves me!

It's amazing the "kindredness" you can have with other Christians.  Our boys became great friends!  They had a wonderful time together!

Then, it was off to La Chua Trail in hopes to find some alligators.

We did find some gorgeous Sand Hill Cranes.  They can be quite loud and they are so big!

When in Florida you have to find snakes, too.

And then we spotted a gator.  It was probably 6 feet long.  Scary!

And since we are in Spring Country, we had to go see Blue Springs and saw a turtle there, too!

So thankful for Godly friends.  You just never know who is watching you and learning from you.  We watched Tom and Laura.  We saw their relationship with one another and we knew we wanted that.  We saw that their home and children were their priority and we wanted that.  We saw them serve in the church and be a blessing to others and we wanted that.  We saw the pure fun they had and whenever we were with them we would laugh so much and we knew we wanted that.  We saw that they loved the Lord with all their hearts and we wanted that, too.  They really have been a powerful influence in our lives and we are so thankful for them!