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Our friendships through the years help to tell the stories of our lives because they become such an integral part of who we are and who we become. They can enrich us and challenge us to give more to one another, and they can draw out the best that the Father intends for us if we choose wisely. They also help us to see one another and ourselves in ways we might not have known had we not chosen to let the threads of our lives weave together. My husband Ken and I traveled to Pittsburg with my sister to see our youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth perform in the musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” It is a hilarious, rather bawdy musical from the sixties written by the writers of the “Mash” TV series with the music of Sondheim. Our daughter is pursuing a professional career in musical theater and this was an exciting opportunity for her. The amazing thing is that during the weekend we had ten family members and friends join us in Pittsburg to support and encourage her. They have loved and prayed for her through the years and watched her grow up. I was amazed and humbled that they would make the sacrifice to come and cheer her on. We had so much fun together as we watched shows, walked the streets, enjoyed the views, the magnificent Phipps gardens, and cultural district of Pittsburg. Throughout the weekend we braved the cold, and savored lots of feasts as we moved from one restaurant to another.  Our band of friends and family just before the show! We're pretty excited!!  Lunch at Vue 412 Restaurant in Pittsburg. We had delicious food and spectacular views of the three rivers that meet in this city with 446 bridges! Throughout the weekend I found myself observing the different personalities of the group that God had assembled together. I watched as each one took their place in this part of our story. There were the organizers - a very necessary role for so many people trying to navigate restaurants, theater tickets and ubers! There were the listeners, those people who know how to ask questions that somehow encourage you to share parts of your heart that you might not otherwise share. When they ask, they listen to your answers. There were the ones who loved to play games, taking their place in the Courtyard Marriott dining booth each day to enjoy the challenge and competitive play. There were those who usher joy into every gathering, laughing, feasting, partying and orchestrating fun times! We even had a mini Mardi Gras party, with beads and king cakes at the hotel after the opening night show. That would be my fun loving husband who came up with that idea and made sure we carried Louisiana king cakes and beads on the airplane to make it festive! I also brought a giant batch of frozen gumbo at Mary Elizabeth's request. We made quite a scene going through the TSA line! There were the beauty seekers, those who appreciate beauty in the small and big events of life. Their love for it causes you to soak and feast your eyes a little longer. They treasure the taste, the touch, the sights and the smells of life and cause you to linger and savor each moment.  Our friend Wade, music director for Mary Elizabeth's show! We all became cheerleaders - wildly applauding my daughter's special moments on stage. She said the cast all knew when her family and friends were at the show and where they were. We were proud to play our part so enthusiastically! There were the photographers, those artists who took the time to capture the memories. I'm so grateful they shared these photos. There were the conversationalists, those who have the special ability to draw out conversation from the ones who might not otherwise contribute as easily. There were the givers, those who take joy in picking up the tab to bless the group or who simply have that ability to creatively engage others. They share their hearts and resources to encourage. They are the ones who sense a need and meet it, whether it’s a hug in a difficult moment or an encouraging word. There were the adventure lovers, those who spurred our sometimes tired bodies to press on through snow and sleet and temperatures in the teens so that we would not miss a single precious moment. And there were the storytellers. Every group seems to have one or two. One surprise friend joined our group. He was the music director of our daughter's show and amazingly had been in theater with my husband and myself in our LSU days. How like the Lord to weave his life back into ours as our friend now poured out his love of music and expertise, investing in the musical career of our own daughter. He is a wonderful storyteller and I loved hearing him tell stories of our college days and shows, many of which I had forgotten. But storytellers take in all those details and store them for our pleasure in the future. I treasure the time we had reconnecting, reliving fun times, and making new memories with him over the weekend.  Mary Elizabeth as Philia in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." On the plane trip to Pittsburg I started a wonderful book entitled The Prodigal God by Tim Keller. I thought it was an unusual title - knowing well the parable from Scripture called the Prodigal Son on which the book is based. Keller says that the parable would be better named “Two Lost Sons.” Prodigal is defined two ways - recklessly extravagant and having spent everything. When you really think about it, that is a perfect adjective to describe our Lord. His sacrifice for our salvation was recklessly extravagant. He gave everything for us and that is the life to which he calls us. Loving extravagantly, giving and living out a life of lavish grace. Radical grace and love at such a cost should reshape us and profoundly affect the way we live. I felt I experienced a taste of the Father’s extravagant love and grace this past weekend through the love and unique offerings I experienced from our band of family and friends. They were willing to extravagantly sacrifice to express their love for us and our daughter. There were those who couldn't join us, yet sacrificed to faithfully pray at home. The day of our return I received several calls from dear friends who had been praying for our trip and our daughter. In the parable, the Father invites everyone to the great feast, especially his lost sons, but only one chooses to enter. The feast is a picture of the great heavenly feast the Father has prepared for us to celebrate at the end of history. Keller closes his book with some wonderful truths about the salvation feast that Jesus, the Lord of the Feast came to bring us. I finished this jewel of a book the day before we returned and was impacted by a quote in the last chapter by C.S. Lewis. Keller introduces the quote with these words, "...there is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from involvement in a community of other believers. You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place. C. S. Lewis was part of a famous circle of friends called the Inklings, which included J. R. R. Tolkien the author of The Lord of the Rings, and also the author Charles Williams, who died unexpectedly after World War II. In his book The Four Loves, Lewis wrote a striking meditation on his death in an essay entitled “Friendship.” “In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles {Williams} is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s {Tolkien’s} reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald…In this, friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy to one another (Isaiah 6:3) The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have.” C. S. Lewis The Lord chose to display the truth of the power of Christian community before me in our Pittsburg weekend in a way that I could taste and see. We gathered for fun, feasts, beauty and theater with all our unique gifts and personalities in community. Each time we gather in community, the experience helps us to know and love one another better and more beautifully as we seek to serve and encourage friends and family to grow in the image of Christ. As we gathered last weekend we drew out of one another more of the vision the Father has for us. Our band of family and friends are not famous, like those of C. S. Lewis, but they are a faithful and lovingly extravagant community of believers whom I am so grateful and blessed to journey with in this life.
For me, as we seek to love and serve one another extravagantly, each in his or her own unique way, the experience of Christian community has been like a foretaste of the great feast the Father has prepared for us. I’m so grateful for the stories the Lord is weaving together and for the ones who have so generously played their part. Blessed and grateful, Kathy Resources:Timothy Keller,The Prodigal God, C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Restore Ministries has a wonderful way for you to experience Christian community. Please join us for our upcoming Restore Retreat! What a beautiful opportunity to share together in the extravagant love and grace of the Father! 
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