Most of my friends are pretty cool ... even if they are insane

I have this friend. Her name is Beth. We are not the kind of friends that "hang-out." She lives in San Diego. I live in St. Louis (for the time being.) She surfs the ocean and I am a child of the corn. She and her husband live in a loft downtown. He teaches while she works part time as the "Spiritual Director" for Youth Specialties. Beth is all California. If you are not comfortable with that you won't be comfortable with her. She loves Jesus with all of her heart. She loves Joe just slightly less than Jesus but he's ok with that. Beth is one of my long-distance friends that allows me the grace to "dump" on her. With her the only face I have to wear is my own. She doesn't get mad, self-righteous, indignent, or any of those other crummy things people often get when they know the truth about you. She is an encourager. A guide of sorts. She has never given me bad advice. As a matter-of-fact, some of her advice has been almost spooky ... she "gets" what it is like to be a pastor and diagnosis situations quickly and accurately. I am grateful God has let our paths intersect. She and Joe just had their first child recently and it's put a new twist on life for both of them. They'll be awesome parents.

But like I said, Beth is all California and all about Jesus. I suppose it was a little of both of those things that made her do what she did. And, oh yeah, she is insane. Anyway, here is what she did as told by her husband...

"When Beth Slevcove moved into the center of a large city, she embraced everything about urban life—except for the guys who ran the tattoo parlor across the street and who got into fights, harassed women and intimidated men. One day Beth decided to get a tattoo herself. She walked over to the tattoo parlor and told them she wanted "Love thy neighbor" inscribed on her wrist, explaining that she was having trouble loving her neighbors because of their fighting. One of the tattoo artists said to the proprietor, "Manuel, dude, we're scaring our neighbors. We got to stop fighting." After that, the fighting ceased and the sidewalk seemed safe. Several months after she got the tattoo, Beth ran into Manuel. He gave her a big hug and said to a friend, "Here, this is my neighbor, the one I was telling you about"

See what I mean? She's crazy. Crazy in love with Jesus and crazy enough to do exactly what He told her to do. May there be more Beths in all of our lives. And may each of us be a Beth when the opportunity arrives ... which it does on a daily basis.