Someone to walk with

Two words in the first sentence of today's reading grabbed me and wouldn't let go all day, throughout my busyness, "Later the Master selected 70 and sent them ahead of him IN PAIRS." Then we read about a man who needs someone to care for him and the most unlikely person does. Mary and Martha are quite a pair. After school today, Adi asked how she can be a good friend to the new kid in her class (I thought SHE was the new kid). I went to Ilda's wake tonight to be there for Bill & Joan and on the way home, I hear a Red Hot Chili Peppers song on the radio I hadn't heard since high school. Here are some of the lyrics, "Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner. Sometime I feel like my only friend is the city I live in, the city of angels. Lonely as I am, together we cry. I drive on her streets 'cause she's my companion. I walk through her hills 'cause she knows who I am..." Then after outlining my homily, I re-read the Scriptures Ilda's children picked: Psalm 23 (I will fear no evil for you are with me) and John 11 (Mary and Martha at Lazarus' death). Lastly, these words from the funeral service, "We thank you for giving Ilda to us to know and to love as a companion..." Do you think God is trying to tell me something?!? 15 years and 6 days ago, I met someone who would be Jesus to me for the rest of my life. If you don't know my wife, Heidi, yet, you need to introduce yourself. You'll be blessed for knowing her. She has spent the last 11 days straight entertaining guests and unpacking our new home. I simply could not do what I do for the church and the world without her. Thank you, Jesus, for bringing her into my life.