Old Fairfax Friends

It was a wonderful blessing to have Dave and Becky Hinckley staying with us this past weekend. They are good friends from our days with the Fairfax Church of Christ where we had a terrific thirteen year ministry. Our kids basically grew up there, the congregation experienced some phenomenal growth, and I personally was able (allowed) to grow as a minister as they encouraged me to challenge the status quo. Those were some great years, and frankly, our decision to leave there and move to Texas in 1990 is one of the very few life changing decisions that I've looked back on with some doubts and some wonder about the wisdom of our choice. I think God had a plan for us and for them, so I don't regret it, and I am immensely thankful for the great memories we will always treasure.
I've said all that to say that it was nice to just spend a bunch of time with Dave and Becky, sitting around the dinner table, talking about what has happened to everyone over the last twenty years. Becky is the person who taught Donna sign language back in the early to mid-80's and she and Dave have been primary leaders in helping their Hearing Impaired ministry grow and become a vital part of the Fairfax family. We drafted Becky to interpret my sermon on Sunday morning, which just proves that no good vacation goes unpunished.
Isn't it awesome to have church family all over the place? We may have worked in four different congregations, but we still have close friends from each of those experiences. There's going to be a lot of catching up to do in heaven.