Friday Five - People.

So it's Friday (just barely, but there's still about 20 minutes left as I start writing this), and that means it's time for another Friday Five. Today I'm going to tell you about 5 people who were once in my life but are not anymore. These people aren't dead, they just aren't really major players in my life anymore (people I see, talk with, and interact with everyday) - but I wish

1. Dave & Katie Schubert. A 2-for-1. These two (three now with baby Haley Grace) were monumental in my life when I began full-time ministry. They were my first financial supporters when I began as an intern at Del Sol Church - that means they were the first people to say they believed in me. They let me be a sort of junior leader in a small group, and really respected me as a rising leader when everyone else still treated me like I was just a kid. Dave is an amazing leader and is a great teacher and preacher. He taught me the games of Mao and Signs. I could go on and on, but man - I really miss these people. They live in Chicagoland now and it's pretty expensive to fly out there so that makes it difficult to visit but I hope that someday soon I'll be able to see them again. Man - I just love them and owe so much to their influence in my life.

2. Ashley Fendley. My favorite redhead and pretty much my closest friend during my upperclassmen years. We talked about so much, we had one of those "I like you and you like me but neither of us said anything until years later" type of relationships so we flirted a lot but I never really took action because I was a freakin chicken. But she really was a good, honest, always-there-for-you friend and she'll always have a special place in my heart as a good friend.

3. John David & Patricia Delgado. Like Dave and Katie, these two had a HUGE part of my life as a pastor, leader, and Christian. They poured so much time, emotion, and money into me for nearly 4 years before they left Del Sol for a church in the Atlanta area. We were all three so different and that led to so much frustration, anger, encouragement, and learning together. It was some of the most genuine community I had ever experieced and I miss that iron-sharpening-iron/I know you, you know me relationship. John David and Patricia knew pretty much everything about my heart and my personality and I knew so much about theirs - and I really miss that. That relationship is one of those once-in-a-lifetime relationships that I wonder if I'll ever have again outside of marriage.

4. David Wagner. David was one of my youth when I was starting out in youth ministry; for a long time he seemed to really be passionate and genuine about his relationship with God. He is an incredible leader and could have been an incredible leader in the Church. We spent so much time together, from menial work to worshipping together at Promise Keepers to setting dry brush on fire with fireworks on the 4th of July. We had so many fun times and so many deep, spiritual times ...but then he met a non-Christian girl and you know how the story goes from there. I still love him though, I still like him, and I still see him so full of potential and I hope and pray that God will recapture his heart again soon.

5. Bryan Macias. Bryan was a lot like David. Same age, same graduation year, same leadership potential, but he had a huge heart for God and really seemed like he was gonna stay strong and be a faithful Christian well into college. He had such incredible, amazing faith like I had rarely seen in anyone, let alone someone his age. He was the kind of person that convicted me and challenged me to grow not by his words but just by the way he lived his life as a Christian. But for whatever reasons that I honestly have no idea what they are, we drifted apart as he drifted away from God. Thankfully he met a Christian girl and she seems to have influenced him to come back to God; I hope and pray it's a genuine comeback.

Dang ...now I'm all melancholy and sad. I miss these people so much, but I'm also so thankful for the time I did have them as major players in my life.