Ted was one of my best friends growing up. He showed up one day when we were in fourth grade to check out the class he was about to join. Ted's family hadn't moved to Visalia yet, but they came to Mt. View Elementary so he could meet his teacher as well as some other students. Our teacher, Mrs. Goates who was the kindest teacher that I think I've ever met and who surprisingly shared some physical characteristics with her namesake, had me show him around the school while the rest of the class went to P.E.
He was hilarious! I liked him from the moment I met him. I think we could both tell right away that when he started school here we were going to be good friends. It didn't hurt that we were only 2 of 8 boys in our class.
I had no idea what to show him at the school other than where the bathrooms were, the drinking fountains, and where the cool kids played tetherball and kickball on the playground. Ted picked up on my inability to decide what to show him next and asked if I was supposed to be in P.E.
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll let you go," he said. He turned around and walked back to the office where his mom was waiting for him. I found out years later that he thought I didn't want to show him anything else because I wanted to go to P.E. He had no idea that the chubby kid standing before him didn't have the slightest desire to go to P.E.. I was more than eager to hang out and show him more of the school if there was just more of the school to show.
One of the reasons that I liked Ted so much is because no matter what was going on Ted made you laugh. We got chased around town one day on our rollerblades by a minivan which freaked me out, but not Ted. He thought we were getting some good exercise.
Everyone that knew Ted wanted to be around him...all the time. We had a lot of fun together growing up. But one of the best realizations for me was when I recognized that Ted wanted to be around me all the time too. It wasn't just me that liked Ted. Ted liked me...a lot. He was calling and asking me to come over to his house or asking if he could come over to my house almost everyday. We were best friends for many years, but we started to focus on different things and we drifted apart in high school.
I haven't seen Ted in probably 10 years or so. But I couldn't help but think of him this week when I was spending some quality time with God. I haven't spent very much time with Him lately. Life has been too crazy. Work. Family. Yards. Friends. Things have been out of control and I've slacked off on spending some quiet time with Jesus.
I woke up early this week to take care of Ephraim (our 1 year old boy). He went back to sleep, but I couldn't. I decided that I really needed to spend time with God. So I sat down in the living room and read some of the Bible and started to pray. I almost immediately felt...amazing. I didn't realize that this lack of time with God was dragging me down so much. And as I was praying and thanking God that I could spend time with Him, I understood that it wasn't just me. God was glad that He could spend time with me. He wants to be around me all the time...even if I don't. Although, after I spend time with Him, I always want to spend more time with Him.
This realization was monumental for me. Just like with Ted, it wasn't just me that likes God. God likes me...a lot. He really wants to spend time with me. He wants to hang out with me. I'm His friend too. That makes me want to spend even more time with Him.
I've felt my whole life like I've been calling up God to hang out only to find that He's constantly calling me to come over to His house...or to see if He can come over to my house to hang out for a while. I love that!
I don't know what's happened to Ted at this point. I hope and pray that he's doing well. That he's figured out what he's helped me figure out...God doesn't just love us...He likes us too.
