Time...It's a Gift

I can't explain it, I'm just grateful for it. What is "it"....IT is the love of people.

I don't know what motivates folks to love you enough to give you a piece of their life; to give you their time.

The greatest gift anyone can give you is their time.You can always make more money. You can always take a physical gift back but time, once given, once spent...is gone forever! The millionaires in eternity will surely be those who were the givers of time. This past week we were thrice blessed with gifts of time.

In 2001, Roger & Debbie Tiffany drove several hours to find us after having seen our interview with Dr. Schuller on the Hour of Power. They brought with them over forty bottles of water. About a month later, they located us again, drove several more hours and brought us more water and a set of walkie-talkies. We hadn't seen them in nine years so we were surprised when they called to say they were driving from Daytona, Florida to Fort Valley, Georgia to spend a day with us! We spent all day Sunday with them and it was absolutely wonderful....it was as if we had known them as friends and neighbors all our lives...and of course, they brought water for old time sake. Roger said, "It's our tradition."

Sunday morning we had worshiped at Calvary Chapel Heartland where Steve & Cindie Sandoval shepherd the church. We have had the honor of speaking to this congregation on three different occasions. Lucy and I truly enjoy this couple's company and so we decided to take a day off from walking on Monday so we could have breakfast with them...we had such a good time that we made plans to have dinner together too! They share their tough moments, laugh at their mistakes, take people into their home and raise their children. They seem to take life in stride...They're real people and we like 'em!

Tuesday evening we got a call from a couple of friends from Big Bear, California. They were in Illinois, they were headed south and they wanted to connect with us. Oh my! How blessed we are! Wednesday night they caught up to us and Thursday morning "Cowboy Bob" Wallace and I walked about eight miles together. Bob was wearing his cowboy hat and he said people probably thought he was an eight foot Texan standing next to me! If you think I get a lot of strange looks....Bob & I nearly stopped traffic! Bob's wife Nancy got to see Lucy's end of this 3300 mile journey. They spent several hours together solving the world's problems. Lucy and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with this creative, yet down to earth couple.

Three couples, all as different as night and day, and all folks we don't see nearly as often we would like to and yet they all graciously gave us a piece of their lives...they gave us their time. I don't know if I can put into word how precious that is to Lucyah and I....especially right now that we are away from home; friends, familiar sights and sounds and smells. Sometimes it seems like we are always saying good-bye. That may be the toughest part of this life on the road but saying good-bye to these three couples...they filled us with such love and joy....these good-byes were a little bit tougher.