Old Friends and New Lives

Ted the Rocket Scientist came for a visit this week. Ted and I have known each other for about a dozen years. Close friends at one time, we worked in ministry together.

And he really is a rocket scientist. Ted works as Project Manager for his firm's involvement with the Delta IV rocket program and every few months spends a few days working out at the Base. He came up for three days last week in preparation for a July launch. We took the opportunity to meet him for dinner on Friday and he spent the night with us before driving back to Los Angeles on Saturday morning.

Those 10 plus years ago, we shared many a sorrow with each other. He as he worked through his divorce, I working through the toughest 2-1/2 year stretch of my life with little-to-no work while painfully adjusting to life-altering changes in my health. The opportunity to share a meal and reminisce while discussing what life is like now was an illuminating experience.

At the time that we barbecued on Ted's patio, I didn't dare to dream of a life like I have now. The thought that I might someday have a wife and a small family in a home of my own was as foreign as foreign can be. To see how my life has so drastically changed in the last 8 years was a gentle reminder of the power and goodness, grace and mercy of God to change lives.