We've all heard the expression, "The truth hurts".  It's only the receiver it really hurts though. I've learned that a true friend, the kind you never ever want to cut loose from your life, is the one who will tell you the truth regardless of how much it may hurt. A seed planted in the ground must first die in order to become what it is to become. There is no life until there is death. That is the truth.

We did alot of boating for quite a few years... our friends, the Hubers, moved to Illinois as I previously explained, took our favorite boat with them and we bought our own. We kept in close touch, writing lots of letters and we went out to see them and their new home. We arranged and met for boating vacations in a lake called Buckeye Lake in Ohio which was about the midway point between us. We stayed fairly connected regardless of the distance.

We quickly outgrew our first little boat and found another better boat for skiing. The pictures show John and myself in the bow of our second boat. You might notice if you saw all the pictures we have of those times that we always seemed to have a drink in our hands.... seeing a pattern here? Well, we boated, we skiied and we drank. We were good at it. I could probably drink a half a case in a day and still function "normally".

John and Judy were two of our closest friends and we enjoyed each other's company very much. So we were thrilled to find out after a couple of years in Illinois that John took another position out here and were moving back! We were thrilled... since we were Realtors at that time, we helped them find a new lot and builder as they built their new home. So we could boat together again and more often.

It wasn't long after they were back when we noticed something was different. John's new position meant more travel, more work and less time for fun. We didn't see them as much as we'd like. It wasn't the same as when we lived across the street from one another. That's about the time when tragedy hit them.

Their eldest son, Lance was tragically killed in an extremely violent truck accident. We tried to be there for them during these very stressful and grief filled times but we weren't properly armed and ready for anything like this. Nothing ever seemed the same between us after this event. We saw less and less of them, and their interest in boating seemed to be replaced with a new hobby, motorcycles. Soon after, John decided to quit the seed business (this will be a prophetic sign to remember later on) and move to Minnesota to help an ailing brother in his trucking business. Of course John turned that business around quickly and made it profitable as well. They built a new home again and settled in to their new place. We really started losing touch with them and the 19 hour travel distance seemed too much. Along with the change of Lance's death. We just drifted apart. We talked or wrote a few times a year... but nothing real heartfilled.

Their daughter Lonna had married and had children and stayed here. So once a year they would stop in while visiting the grandchildren, but it wasn't the same and always felt like a wedge between us. They kept asking us to come out and visit them and selfishly we decided it was too far to go. Sad isn't it. This is where God started getting involved.

This is the strangest part of all... and purely God. We had heard about other friends the Hubers had around here named Rich and Karen. John and Judy always said we'd really like them and we actually met them once or twice but only to say hello to. Now this next part starts getting a little involved, complicated and might seem totally unrelated.

Our eldest daughter Gretchen was trying to help a girl at school. Gretchen was a born again Christian. She found the Lord at an early age due to occasional weekends with her very religious grandparents (thank you, thank you, thank you Dean & Eileen) and because of that we were taking them to church... some Sundays. She was trying to counsel a girl with many problems and didn't seem to be making much of a dent in the situation. So she suggested that she ask someone at her church to help. Which she did and as it turns out, it was Rich & Karen. Strange coincidence?? I don't believe in them anymore... I call them God-weaving. So in talking with one or both of them, they found out the girl's name, Gretchen Horning at school who suggested this avenue and it rang a bell in them. The story that came back to us through this young girl was that she should first sever any ties to Gretchen because they knew of her parents and that they were bad people. We were wild party people, druggies and just very worldly humanistic heathens and Gretchen is bad seed from bad trees. Why would they think this of us, they didn't even know us and why would they be spreading these lies?

When this first got back to us, I wanted to go right over to where they lived and confront them! But the Holy Spirit (Bonnie) talked me out of it and forget it. I couldn't forget it. How dare somebody who doesn't know us say these things about us. That's when the Holy Spirit came into my life and started opening my heart... a kind of open heart surgery started taking place unbeknowst to me.

So meanwhile, living in this party house we built... just having the whole basement finished, complete with my life time dream of my own english pub with my custom built bar, started to lose a little of it's luster the next party we threw. There were a lot of drunk people but I hung back and restrained myself a little compared to the past. I started to notice our children hanging around, witnessing it all and then seeing ourselves making everything that was allegedly said about us seem more truth than fiction. Then the sneaky little trip up to my offices to smoke a little weed and it all hit me hard. I WAS exactly what was said about me! The truth hurts and cuts like a knife. But this is only the half of it... yes, the truth sure hurts and thank God for those bold enough to speak it forth!

Psalm 19:7
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.