In Memory of a Beautiful Friend and Woman of God: Debbie Krebs

Whenever I think of Debbie
I see her smiling;
I hear her cheerful voice.

She's telling someone,
"Way to go! You can do it!"
and so many other joyful words of blessing.

She's giving a hug,
holding out her hands
to give help, healing, hope.

I may not see her for a long, long time.
We didn't know she'd be leaving so soon.

Now when I think of her
I'll get that ache in my heart
and wrestle again and again with
how things are and how I wish they were.

It should not be this way.
She should have stayed
and lived and loved a little longer--
so much longer!

But Jesus will make it up to us,
and when he brings us back together,
we won't remember the time apart.
We'll talk of how he rescued us
and walk together always
on a road that never ends...

Nit Picking Can Be a Blessing, or, A Friend Loves at All Times

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17

Dave and Carol came down to see us this weekend. From the first time I visited them in their country house we were friends. Dave was a close friend of Bill’s who was instrumental in leading him to the Lord.

Once we were married and I finally became pregnant, we planned to sell one of our cars so I could quit my job and stay at home full time. Unfortunately the car didn’t sell, so when our new son was a few months old I was able to find some temporary office work to help out. I had already taken a six-month maternity leave from my teaching job and with summer vacation upon us, the budget was getting really tight. My first assignment was a half hour away from home, but just a couple of miles away from Dave and Carol’s place, and they graciously agreed to care for our baby while I worked that summer. There were a lot of “big brothers and sisters” at the Loringer’s house and the kids are good friends to this day.

When our younger kids were babies and toddlers, it didn’t matter to them that there was such an age difference between our kids and theirs. This was the one place where we could visit and I could totally relax. Carol had a way of dealing with everything that could possibly arise with grace, humor, and ease. As my mother-in-law used to say, “Nothing ruffles that woman’s feathers.” How I longed to be like her!

Years later, when head lice was going around at school, I acquired it, too. As sweet and loving and sacrificing as they normally were, even through hard times, none of my family members would come into our house while I was dealing with it. Carol not only came over to see me, but she patiently sat on the sofa and picked the nits out of my hair while I sat “crisscross applesauce” on the floor in front of her.

Now that we live 300 miles away from each other, our visits are few and far between. It meant so much to us that they drove down for Bill’s 50^th birthday party this weekend—the only folks from our northwest PA homeland who were able to make the trip. Our time together was precious and our friendship of more than 22 years is something we are really grateful for.