This afternoon I got to spend some quality time with my friend Jeff. Jeff used to live here in Michigan but has moved to California. (and who can blame him really?). He was here for a few days to visit and is now on an airplane back to Cali.

Jeff and I have only been friends for a little over a year, but it seems like we've been friends forever. I first got to know him when we were part of a missions team that went to Amsterdam in the Spring of '06. I don't "just click" with many people, but Jeff and I clicked. Almost right away it seemed we were tight.

Conversations with Jeff always restore a little of my hope. Hope in God's plan for my life, hope for the Church, hope for the lost. Though I try to see this world (and myself) for the possibilities, my vision sometimes gets blurry. Jeff has the uncanny gift of getting past all the junk and seeing an issue or question in it's simplest form. He'd probably disagree, but it often seems that life is wonderfully uncomplicated for him. And he helps me see that life can be wonderfully uncomplicated for me, too. Not "unmessy", but uncomplicated.

I know he knows how much I appreciate his friendship. I try to tell him often. But I thought it'd be good for the rest of the world to know, too.

Godspeed my friend. Safe travels. tot ziens.