Seems like Michelle and I have had something going with friends every night this week. Her brother gets in today. He is relocating to our area and will be staying with us for a while. He loves to grill and cook so Michelle is excited to cook less and I am pumped about eating more.

Monday night we got to hang out with our friends Greg and Denise Peters. Greg pastors the Parkside Church in Palm Coast, FL. He started the church a little over 10 years ago and it is doing great. Greg has been a confident and close friend through the years and someone that I respect a great deal. Our churches have traveled many parallel journeys so it’s always good to get together and share stories.

Tuesday night Pat and Kristin Fensom, friends from Fayetteville, NC came by. I blogged about Pat earlier this month. He is in the Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and has served two tours in Afghanistan. Pat put it on the line for his country and his soldiers in a big way. He was sharing some of his experiences with me over dinner. The thing he was most proud of was that God brought him through without losing any of his team. Imagine the kind of pressure leaders like this go through. You relax or mess up and someone dies. Kristin and other military spouses like her don’t get the same props but they are heroes too. She did two tours of single parenting four boys while living with fear every time the phone rang or she heard a knock on the door. They have incredible boys…God has been good to them.

Pat gave me something I will always treasure. He had a coin created for his team that has the Special Forces emblem on the face with several other military awards. On one side it says “Desert Eagles” with a sub motto of Pressure - Pursue - Punish. If my boys ever serve, I would want them to serve under Pat or someone like him.