I am thinking about Geneva McGhee today. Geneva passed away at age 90 last week. Her funeral will be held in Wichita Falls today. She was in her late 60s, when I first met her in 1987. I was a young and very inexperienced minister. She was kind to me. She treated me like I was actually competent. She attended the baby shower for our firstborn. I was involved in several projects with her over the years, and grew to love and appreciate her very much. You would not think that a lady approaching 70 would have much in common with a 25 year old young man. But the best friendships are often unexpected.

In the summer of 1978, I stopped at Murfee Elementary School to play a pick up game of basketball with a random group that had gathered. One of the guys playing that day was obnoxious and overly aggressive. What a jerk, I thought… I forgot about him until our paths crossed again a few months later at Monterey High School. It turns out he was going to be on the traveling debate team that I had joined. My guard went up immediately. I am going to spend an entire school year going to debate tournaments with this clod?

It turns out we did end up going to a lot of tournaments together. In fact, we became best friends that year. He became a part of our family. I became a part of his as well. I was genuinely afraid of his dad, which was a good thing. His dad played a key role in keeping all of us out of jail during our formative teen years. When my mother died in 1991, he flew back to Lubbock to be a pallbearer at her funeral. Losing her was nearly as difficult for him as it was for me. She loved him, and he knew it. Scott remains a dear friend today.

I have realized recently that the vast majority of my friendships have been unexpected and even extraordinary. Who would think that a farmer 15 years my senior would be become a dear friend? I have worked with police officers and firefighters for many years now, and several of them, in a very wide age range have become very good friends. A couple of years ago I assisted the police department with a tragic fatality car crash. A sixteen year old girl was killed. In the process of fulfilling my role as chaplain, the young victim’s father became a special friend. I need to take some time today to list all of my friends, and thank God for each of them.

Geneva’s death reminds me today that God brings all kinds of people into our life. None of them are to be taken for granted. Sometimes our initial impression of someone is not very positive, and God gives us a second chance to really get to know them. At other times, there is a huge age difference. God uses such differences to heap on the blessings. I am thinking about Geneva McGhee today, and I am thinking that the best friendships are often very unexpected. In fact, most of them really are extraordinary.