FOREVER FRIENDS!

There are no words yet……only tears!

Rest in peace, sweet Ellen, my dear, long-time friend❣️ l love you and so cherish all our memories & times together! You will always be a part of who I am—the kind, gentle parts. 

Ellen Thomas Cockrell

 12/12/1947-10/16/2024

May You O Lord, quiet/calm alll her family and friends with your love. (Zephaniah 3:17) 

CELEBRATION!

Celebrating Ann Martin's 1st birthday in heaven! 

A time to remember our true friend who would have been 94 today!

She loved breakfast at Perkins so we met there to pray and remember.

Trips together. Meals together. Swimming together. Singing old hymns together. Laughs together. 

• Awakening to Shirley's buttery biscuits at Blackberry, riding in the golf cart w/ her doggie Abbey, treated to Judy's crepes w/ fresh fruit & real whipped cream, rocking in the chairs with Farmer John at the Barn, campfire s'mores, 4th of July lunching on the grounds & listening to Luke Bryan's Spring Break live concert from our lawn chairs. 
• Her top level cooking from Etheline's coconut cake, her Brad's, birthday pumpkin roll and her roasted red pepper soup. Who takes time to roast peppers anymore? Lunching with her sweet Marika when she was in town.....from Napa Cafe to good ole Elmo's.
• Swimming together at the Q for years, sometimes at the office and once even breaking in to Rawl and Julie's for a dip.....by scaling the gate!
• When she had trouble speaking we could hum a familiar old hymn and she would start singing.. In the Garden, Old Rugged Cross, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus and Jesus Love Me.
• Many laughs included Mike & Larry being her boyfriends. Others are censored (per request by friends) but often dealt with food and weight and back to food....while interspersed with bodily function jokes.

Ann was a friend who gave wise counsel; Her life as a friend is clearly reflected in these verses.

A true friend sticks by you like family. (Proverbs 18:24)

Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy! (Proverbs 27:9)

Thanks for the memories, sweet, Ann; You certainly refreshed my heart with joy even during my darkest of days!

FRIENDSHIP TO FELLOWSHIP

Depth can be added to friendship when two folks are on the same side of the struggle.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way. . .

It's why deep friendships are often found in support groups--for cancer, terminal diseases, addiction, divorce, betrayal as well as varying grief groups. There is a kinship found when two or sometimes more are on the same side of the struggle. (Proverbs 18:24)

Factor in fellowship and the relationship goes even deeper. Why?

In true fellowship Christ is factored in. It becomes two (or more) people on the same side of the struggle with Christ being the connection in the middle. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

I know because I have been there and am so grateful for the ones God put there with me, often ahead of me, to lead the way to victory, even though the struggle might remain. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

CHOOSE: FRIDAY FUN

It's easy to choose Friday Fun when you're with friends---especially when it has been Friday ever since Tuesday!

God's Word says there is a friend who sticks closer than a bother. (Proverbs 18:24) I have GREAT brothers so these special friends stick with me just as my brothers do. Friends who are there through thick and thin. Friends who "nurse" you through your cancer journey.

Friends who often put your needs above their own. Friends whose very presence blesses your that you might bless others by their example.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)

What fun it was to celebrate Friday together for 4 days this week!

"Def-TEA-nition"

A friend is always loyal, and a brother (sister) is born to help in time of need. (Psalm 17:17, NLT)

This pass week has had me experience many kinds of family. None were the family of blood relation, but family all the same!

My long time trekking T-Cup friends with whom I travel once a year. My former university office mate, (UM) who is so MUCH more than a professional friend. My HHS friends who are great for laughter and tears and sometimes both at once.

Like family, they have all been there for me in time of need. During my 2009 cancer journey, they clothed me, fed me, and nursed me. Friends going beyond measure of simple friendship. Becoming family.  

Proverbs 18:24 says, "..a real friend sticks closer than a brother." In my life, I'm not sure that's possible because my brothers are my cheerleaders and have always been there for me---but these real friends do the same!

"Flowers are like friends, you get to pick them."

Starla, the young protagonist in Whistling Past the Graveyard, defined family well. "The  people who look out for me. The people I look out for." (p. 308)
I'm grateful God provided me all these beauties ---I got to choose from the best of the bunch! Friends who are like family! A true def-TEA-nition of family, at its best!

"When we consider the blessings of God—the gifts that add beauty and joy to our lives, that enable us to keep going through stretches of boredom and even suffering-friendship is very near the top.

Donald W. McCullough, Mastering Personal Growth

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: A Mountain Journey, from treetops to rivers below

6/10/12 Trekking "from the treetops to the rivers below" with a friendly bunch of sisters in the faith is a great eye-opener to the hand of God in every facet of life. 

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. (Proverbs 18:24, The Message)

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
 Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And glorified Himself in Israel.  (Isaiah 44:23)

Flame azaleas growing wild

A Day Lily for my "Day Lilies" a common mispronunciation

Henize Pavilion at Buzzard Rock---what a view!

Mountain rhododendron, often confused with mountain laurel, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains

Clingman's Dome viewed from a zip-line platform 85' up with 12 folks on a zip-line platform built for 4!

Though we were the oldest in the treetops, we had the most fun on all 13 zips.

Isaiah 43:2 came to mind on the Nantahala raft trip. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." We might have been the oldest on the river, but that could have been the reason we had the most fun in 48° water or at least the reason we made the most noise.

Cullasaja Falls on Hwy 64 outside Franklin, North Carolina

Methodist Church in The Highlands. Our host was a retired Methodist pastor and his wife.