Point Sebago

Sebago Lake is a beautiful vacation spot in Southern Maine outside Portland that we would go to growing up. Surrounding the lake were golf courses, campgrounds, and several resorts that people would flock to every summer. One year when I was probably 11 or 12 (old enough to be attracted to girls but not nearly wise enough to know how to talk to the mysterious creatures), my family spent a week there. My friend Randy came along, as he was part of the family anyway. Randy and I had been friends since the first grade and had a knack for finding ways to have fun. In preparation for the trip, we went out and procured the essentials we would need, including (don’t tell my mom) a pack of cigarettes! We were gonna be so cool, and this was gonna be a great week!

When we got there, my brother, Randy, and I shared a tent at the campground and, as I remember it, pretty well had free reign of the campground and ruled it and the surrounding resorts. One day while out chasing girls and mischief, my mom decided to clean our tent...... and when we returned from the day to prepare for our night on the town, we were confronted by our parental prosecutors and judge with both our accusation and sentencing (parents didn’t have to follow constitutional protocols for some reason). This was gonna be bad.........Then something happened I didn’t expect.....Randy stepped up, took full blame for the cigarettes, and said my brother and I had nothing to do with them. Bam! He got a talking to, we all got warnings and maintained our freedom. What a friend!

For the last 46 years, Randy and I have been friends. We’ve never had a fight; he’s always been there for me even during seasons where we’d go months or some years without speaking or seeing each other; there’s never any judgement only love and support despite when I’ve done things that deserved his anger. We still find ways to search for mischief together. And he would consistently, over almost five decades, take the fall whenever we got caught..... A true friend. It’s a gift to have a friend like that. 

Take a minute to the below:

You have a friend like that also. His name is Jesus, and he has consistently taken the fall for us and loves us with all his heart. He chose you and calls you friend. To me, that’s an amazing thing and brings me great comfort. I’m convinced he doesn’t mind joining me for a little fun and mischief!

What a great feeling to have friends! Take time today to say thank you to your friends, and remember also to be a friend is a way that honors God. S