Reflections on Longford

     It seemed as if it were only yesterday when I moved into a house on 4950 Longford Street with housemates Ted Su, Jerry Chen, Tim Yu, and Kevin Au.  My life as a single adult (I graduated from college a month before we moved in) would start with these men.  Now, as I prepare to get married in a little less than two months, I realized that it would also end with them.  After spending the last week frantically packing to get our things out of the house, I couldn’t help but both recollect and reflect on the time that I had dwelling under the same roof with these five extraordinary men of God.  Though sad now, I walk away thankful – and forever will be.

                I can name a number of different things that can be passed down as memorable legacies to all those collegians and singles looking to get Christ-honoring bachelor house together.  The cooking rotations that featured everything from Japanese hot-pot, Mabo-Tofu, Wonton Noodle Soup, Puff-Pastry Fish Filet, Thai Chicken Curry, to the famous Chicken “Ted-Su” – I’m serious when I say that these guys could start their own restaurant and catering company.  Then there were the Saturday morning prayers, in which five sleep-deprived knuckle-heads – some still wrapped in their blankets – attempted to pray for church members with who, we rarely interacted.  There were the worship jam sessions – Longford’s corporate musical worship featuring a keyboardist, two acoustic guitarists, a bass player, and a violinist touching every song from “Here I am to Worship” to unknown songs from Everobodyduck that drew compliments from our neighbors.  And, who could forget, the weekly Sunday-night house meetings, the time in which all five guys would get together for prayer and accountability and pour their hearts out to each other for hours at a time – a depth of accountability unusual to see in all-male get togethers. 

                But ultimately, it’s not the things that we did that mattered, but it was the people who made up the house which made it a tremendous blessing.  I’m a firm believer that one should be careful with whom he chooses to live with, for it is usually those people who have the potential to influence a man the most during his single-adult life.  And so I say that more important than the fact that I lived with guys who did things together was the fact that I lived with guys who ran hard after Christ.  It’s one thing to associate with people who like you.  It’s another thing to associate with people who love God and push those around them to do the same.  As the chapter of my life entitled “Longford” comes to an end, I find myself most thankful not for the things we did together, but for the men who made up what has commonly been known as just “Longford.”  And so, my thanksgiving is not so much for the programs or activities, but for people who have been more than a tremendous blessing and influence to me.  I learned what it means to be truly transparent and honest before people without fearing them from Jerry.  I learned what it means to humble myself (and not just to be humbled) and selflessly prefer others before my own from Ted.  I learned what it means to tackle all aspects of life with spiritual sobriety and integrity from Tim.  And I learned what it means to live life as a devout, single-minded soldier set apart for Christ from Kevin.  In the end, I've gained from them more than I've given to them, and feel so honored to have been influenced by their examples of godliness. 

                Sure I’ll miss them now, but honestly I know that there will come a time when I’ll be emotionless about it all.  Ten years down the line – as a married man hopefully with children and possibly doing missionary and church-planting work in another country – I probably won’t miss them.  I’ve moved around enough times to know that circles of friends change, and that those gut-wrenching feelings of having to watch certain ones come to an end, for the most part, will be replaced by the dawning of new relationships.  There will likely come a time when I’ll probably go through weeks or months without contacting them, or maybe even think about them.  Life will go on, and we will all indeed move on.  But there will never come a time when I’ll forget them and be thankful for them.  What they contributed to my growth and life as a single adult to prepare me and sharpen me for both marriage and ministry is something that I’ll forever be thankful for, since it’s contributed to production of imperishable Christ-like character qualities.  Every man must go through life as a single-adult; some like it while others abhor it, but all go through it.  It’s a necessary stage of life in which one must use to cultivate character and prepare for becoming a husband and father.  I can’t think of a better way for God to have accomplished that in me than through granting me the privilege of spending all of mine with the Longford brothers. 

By Perseverance, the Snail Reached the Ark