Every once in a while, I'll be walking someplace outside and I'll hear the sound of wind chimes. Immediately, my heart returns to a place, to a home, to two people that I so dearly love... to a beautiful backyard that always had the sound of wind chimes.
Jim and Ginger.
If you know them, you've probably been loved by them.
Jim and Ginger have this beautiful home in Colorado Springs, right near the mountains. At some point in their journey of the Christian life, they decided their home was not their own, but a gift entrusted to their care, that they would use to bless others.
They worked hard for this beautiful home, and then they opened the doors and let God use them to bless so many people. I had the joy of living with them for many months, and I know a ton of other people who did as well.
Jim and Ginger.
If you know them, you've probably been loved by them.
Jim and Ginger have this beautiful home in Colorado Springs, right near the mountains. At some point in their journey of the Christian life, they decided their home was not their own, but a gift entrusted to their care, that they would use to bless others.
They worked hard for this beautiful home, and then they opened the doors and let God use them to bless so many people. I had the joy of living with them for many months, and I know a ton of other people who did as well.
As I reflect back now, it is quite remarkable that not a single time in the months that they shared their home with me did I feel as though I was intruding on their space; to the contrary, it felt like home.
Jim is one-of-a-kind. I mean that quite literally, and don't have any other friends or loved ones who are quite like him. For those of us who love him, we all know this: you hear Jim coming before you can see him because he's almost always whistling a joyful tune. The tune is almost always a joyful one because Jim's heart is overflowing with the joy he knows in Christ. He's always ready to talk about that joy, always ready to encourage and to speak words that will build and edify.
And then there's Ginger. Sweet Ginger. She is a woman of such faith and character who knows how to love, who knows how to make sure the people she loves know that indeed they are loved. She is a woman whose heart and home and kitchen are open to strangers; these strangers quickly become her beloved friends.
If you've ever lived with them, one of the things you'll soon expect is that if you're up before 6AM, you'll catch them sitting together in their living room, fresh coffee in hand, reading God's word and praying together. If you've lived with them but since moved away, there's a good chance that they're continuing to pray from you long after you've moved away.
Sometimes I wonder what blessings I've known, or what evils I've been spared, because of the prayers of these two saints.
Though I lived with them WAY back in 2001, me, Justin and Jake enjoyed the blessing of getting to visit them the summer that Jake was a baby. It didn't take much time for Justin to realize why I talk about them the way I do; why I love them the way I do.
Their backyard - with the wind chimes and the twinkle lights - holds such a special place in my heart and in my memory.
There is much about Colorado that is breathtakingly beautiful.
But with no contest, the most beautiful part of all are the people.
Dear Jim and Ginger,
I love you two so dearly. I think of you often. And I thank God for your lives and for allowing me to have the blessing and joy of knowing the two of you. In so many different ways, even though far away, your lives continue to be an example of the beautiful, grace-filled Christian life.
I miss you both tremendously.
