February 9 – “Remembering Robby”

Many, many years ago, when I was but a young, aspiring minister in search of  seminary training, my sweet young wife and I packed our two young 'uns and our belongings and headed to the cold northlands of Fort Worth, Texas.    We settled near the school in a rental house that allowed pets, for we still had our first child, a rat terrier named Gideon, and we were not about to sacrifice him simply for a place to live.  We had not been there long when we heard from a Houston friend that he needed a place to stay for a few days while he, too, searched the area for lodgings in preparation for his own seminary stay.  Little did we know at the time that our family life was about to take an unusual turn.   Robby came to Fort Worth and stayed with us that first weekend.  And he moved out about four years later, when we moved to Mansfield with our new little baby, Nathan.  We invited him to stay with us, but for some reason he wasn't interested in sharing a room with the baby.  Or with a four-year-old and an eight-year-old.    In the years Robby was with us he became a mixture between a big brother, an uncle, and just a good friend.  He did babysit on many occasions.  He and I worked on some strange psychology papers together.  And together we faced, and indeed captured our share of, a horrifyingly large assortment of rats and mice.  He provided fodder for neighborhood gossip as they tried to figure out which of us was truly Chris' husband.  He created stories on our porch swing that often irked the neighbor children, and truly inspired our own Joshua to become a storyteller in his own right.  Robby forgot, however, to include a session on appropriate times for storytelling, and the young ones often fell into situations beyond their ability to salvage when they started spinning a Robby-quality yarn and couldn't figure out how to end it.   I had a dream about Robby the other night.  I can't remember details of the dream itself.  I know it wasn't a bad thing.  It was just a reminder kind of thing.  So I did what Chris and I have committed to do whenever we dream about someone.  I prayed for him.  We kept up with Robby for many years after he moved out.  He visited us about once a year on his wedding anniversary for awhile.  We have tried to contact Robby for several years now, but have had no luck.  Yesterday I googled his sister's name.  She's a lawyer in San Antonio, and I was able to find an email address, so I sent her a note.  Haven't heard back yet.  Think I'll pray for his sister Grace, too.  She wasn't in the dream, but I don't think she'll mind.   Psalms 143:5-6 says, "I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.  I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land."   Father, thank you for reminding me of some good times of long ago.  Enter my dreams any time you have someone you want me to pray for.  Take care of Robby and Grace.  Amen.

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