Love Grows Here

 

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to see a friend whom I hadn’t seen in over a decade. As she welcomed me into her home, she greeted me with a hug and a smile and exclaimed, “Pee Wee!” Pee Wee was my childhood nickname, but I’m pretty sure that she, Allison, was the only person who ever used the name! 😊

 

Allison and I sat around the kitchen table and caught up for awhile, and then she gave me a brief tour of her house. After the tour, we settled into the comfy couch and chairs in the living area, and that’s when I noticed a chalkboard sign that simply read, “Love Grows Here.”

 

Immediately, I began to sing…and Allison began to sing with me.

 

Allison and I grew up together in the small town of Tabor City, NC. We went to school and church together, did band and piano together, spent time at each other’s houses together, and were, in many regards, the best of friends. To this day, I credit Allison with teaching me to sing alto while standing in church on Sunday mornings.

 

But I usually sang soprano. And I sang a lot. Allison did, too. We were both in the youth choir at Tabor City Baptist Church, and the youth choir was very active. In fact, the youth choir was the worship leadership for Sunday night worship services at the church. We sat in the choir loft and sang an anthem every week. I still remember many of the anthems we sang…

 

None better than “Love Grows Here.”

 

“Love Grows Here” was the youth choir stand-by anthem for years. My sister sang it. My brother sang it. I sang it. And we all loved it because it was so simple and pretty.

 

Evidently, Allison loved it, too, because when I began to sing at her house, she began to sing with me. And when we moved to the piano, we both continued to sing—Allison singing alto, me singing soprano--and we both remembered the entire thing as if it were just yesterday that we were standing in the choir loft at Tabor City Baptist Church.

 

“Take a look around you, tell me what you see. People here to worship the Lord, just like you and me. Some have come with gladness, some have come with fear, but all have come because they know that love grows here.

 

Yes, love grows here and all of us can share the wonder and joy that it can bring. For God is near, teaching us to care, and showing our hearts how to sing.

 

Some of us are lonely, some have many friends. Some lives just beginning, some are near the end. Yet we come together, knowing He is near, once again reminding us that love grows here.”

 

Music is powerful, friends. Share memories are powerful, too. Today, let us thank God for both, and for the beauty of friends.

 

Oh God, thank you for the power of music to speak to our souls and to plant itself into the very foundation of our being. Thank you for shared memories—for laughter, for tears, for ridiculous nicknames, and formational moments that will never be forgotten. And thank you, God, especially, for friends—for both lifelong and seasonal friends who help make us who we are. Thank you, God. Thank you. Amen.