the difference between brothers and buddies

A few weeks ago I watched my
husband carry a heavy load; he was tired, frustrated, and discouraged. I
tried to encourage him, with a kiss and smile, but I had a sense that this was
not something a wife could fix. He left
for the office, and I prayed that someone would reach out to him. Several hours later Gary came home smiling and full of life. Turns out his friend Robin had felt an urging
to call him,(from the States) and then proceeded to speak life, encourage and prophesy truth
over him, Gary was a different man after that phone call, he was excited,
focused, and full of energy. …..bless you Robin, you are a true brother!

This last week Mike Paschall
flew all the way from great Republic
of Texas to bring us one
of his spiritual daughters to join us on the field. If Mike thought he was going to relax, he was
very disappointed; we had him preaching, counseling, and fathering
non-stop. Gary and Mike were an amazing
team ministering to the racers; they were unstoppable in the spirit…and they
were having a blast. Every night Mike
would pour wisdom into Gary,
remind him of who he was, and what his future held…Mike loved on our kids, and
was patient as they follow him around the house. One morning I woke up rather
nasty with all the busyness, and was embarrassed when I remembered I had a
house guest. I apologized to Mike later;
he just smiled and said, in his fabulous southern drawl… “Baby, I did not hear
or see a thing….” Thank you for grace Mike, our time with you was priceless…sorry
about wearing you out!

Tom and Brett arrived with a
vision trip during this busy and hectic time, but the timing was indeed perfect,
God was up to something. My husband,
children and I were surrounded by intelligent, anointed, wise, real, hilarious,
amazing men of God. Tom and Brett
listened to ALL of Caleb’s stories, (and that boy can talk!) they included the
kids in everything, understanding how much the tribe LOVES their uncles. We had a night of just the four guys (and me)
sitting around our fire pit on our back porch. We started praying and the
spirit of God fell, we cried and cried together, it was one of the most precious
moments of my life. I will never forget it.

Their beautiful,
amazing, fabulous and thoughtful wives loaded them down with goodies from the
states for the whole family…it was like Christmas! The best part though were
the hugs, and the encouragement, we have been refreshed in our very souls.

These men are full of
integrity, full of the spirit and full of life, and every minute with them was
truly a blessing…They speak lovingly and affectionately of their wives, and are
all excellent fathers.

For years I prayed for my
husband to have good, Godly brothers around him, but I did not dream big enough
for what God has blessed us with. We laughed, we cried, we made plans, dreamed
together and reminisced of Saturday
football at Memorial park, and soup night in the fall, and the fourth of July parade.

As Brett and Tom started to
walk off towards their gate, and Gary and I walked towards ours, I jokingly said to the guys” if our plane goes down, you raise our
kids, and if your plane goes down we will raise yours”…the truth is, neither of us would hesitate, and that is the difference
between brothers and buddies…

Thanks men for being real
men, and thanks for letting me tag along.
Can’t wait to see you guys again, only next time, you have to bring MY
girlfriends too!