Let's pray for each other...
We met in the middle of a hot July. Both in our early twenties, married a day apart, same flippy blonde hair, and beginning our jobs at DaySpring.
I remember taking a walk in the park a little bit later. It seemed that early awkwardness of building a relationship was never there for us. We just started talking and haven't stopped since.
I also remember the moment, briefly after, when she said something and I thought, "We're friends."
We shared our hearts over coffee, almost fell on the floor laughing as we sang old Amy Grant songs, played cards with our husbands until late, late at night.
For so long, our lives were so very similar. Our paths, parallel, seemed destined to keep us in the same place always.
God had His plans. I struggled with infertility. She had two kids. My career ramped up. She felt the beautiful calling to stay at home. We both wondered, silently and out loud to each other, about the changes in the roads of our lives.
Today is her 32nd birthday. This morning we had an early breakfast and talked on the shaded patio of a local cafe. Her little boy giggled while her sweet girl slept.
We shared about what was going on in our hearts, what our families did to celebrate birthdays when we were kids, and what the future might hold.
I looked at my lovely friend--full of light and life, so kind, talented, good and true. And I felt so glad just to be there.
When I hugged her good-bye in the parking lot, I cried. Those tears surprised me because they don't come often. And as I got back in my car I considered them.
I realized they were tears of gratitude. Because almost ten years later our paths may have gone in different directions yet we will always find our way back to the place where our hearts intersect.
And this, for me, is the meaning of friendship.
Happy Birthday, sweet Heather. It's your day and yet I feel as if I'm the one who has been given a beautiful gift.
As we've been talking about friendship this week, an article I wrote for Zia Magazine keeps coming to mind. While it seems we can't do much to stop our financial 401ks from dropping like rocks lately, I still believe we can stay wealthy in the ways that matter most.
Here's an excerpt:
Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.
It turns out there might be more truth to that simple saying than we think. Friendships have a vast number of benefits--from improving our happiness to lengthening our lives.
But while we’re coached from the start of our career on how to bolster our 401k retirement accounts, we get a lot less training on how to do the same with our relationships. Fortunately, many of the same concepts apply. So here’s a little guide for building your very own friendship 401k.
Invest
The first thing we have to do with a 401k is put something in it. The same is true of friendships. While retirement accounts require money, friendships need something even more scarce--time.
Yes, it’s going to cost us. But in the end we may reap benefits we didn’t expect. For example, Dr. Joan Borysenko told Prevention how she instructed an attendee at one of her seminars suffering from frequent headaches to spend two nights a week with friends. To her client’s surprise, the headaches cleared up and she could be even more productive.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
And when you're done, come on back and share one little way you've grown your friendship 401k with us.
Mark and I just got home from spending time with dear friends of ours. We had yummy Thai food for dinner and ice cream (mint oreo!) for dessert. But the best part of all was just catching up on each other's lives and laughing so hard we almost fell out of our chairs.
For example, we swapped stories of odd things our spouses have done while sleeping. Just after Mark and I were first married I woke up to find him persistently poking my forehead. It was as if he were inwardly asking his sound-asleep self, "Can she be real--really, really real?" (Insert one poke of the forehead for each word in that last sentence). I woke him up by laughing hysterically and it has been one of our favorite stories to tell ever since.
Since I'm feeling grateful for friendship at the moment, I'm kicking off the week with a "Girlfriends Giveaway." (Yes, there were boys present tonight but I'm not convinced they're interested in free girly stuff. If I ever give away power tools and/or electronics, I will repent and come up with another name.)
So here's the deal. If you win the contest you'll get two of these Friends of the Heart journals. I wrote them and they have different sections for memories, prayer requests, etc. The journal is meant to be shared and you could do so with one friend or a group.
AND you'll get two of these Friends Forever mugs. The mugs also include the Scripture, "A friend loves at all times" (Proverbs 17:17 NIV).
The catch is, you can't keep both. Your mama taught you to share and now is the time to make her proud. To enter the contest leave a comment telling who you will give the other journal and mug to as well as why she deserves it.
Spread the love and tell all of your girlfriends to enter.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday!
* If you're a subscriber, please remember to post a comment on the site rather than replying to the e-mail.
Our dear friends Heather and Tony added a new little girl to their family eleven weeks ago. Lily made a surprise entrance and was born at home quite unexpectedly. Fortunately, all was well and she's doing great. So this morning Mark and I hosted a brunch to officially introduce her. I'd love for you to meet her too...
Isn't she a beauty? I think she gets it from her Mama. Heather and I have taken countless pictures together the last eight years of our friendship. They mark the milestones of our lives--birthdays, holidays, and now babies. Here's another one to add to our collection...
Daddy Tony and little brother Micah joined us too. Most of the time Micah ran around and giggled cheerily. But I happened to catch him in one of his rare moments of moodiness (I have those too!). It was just so stinkin' cute I wanted you to see it as well...
Sweet friends like Ellen stopped by to meet Lily and catch up with Heather. Ellen is a talented artist, storyteller, and I had the privilege of working with her for several years at DaySpring.
Talent must run in families because when it came time to open gifts, we were all amazed by this diaper tower from Ellen's sister, Karen. Too cute!!
Love, laughter, and new life. What a sweet combination.
Welcome to the world, Lily, and welcome to our hearts!
* I'd love for you to welcome Lily too by leaving a comment or blessing for her (or her Mom and Dad) here!
I apologize for my silence this week. You can
blame it on the recent ice storm that swept
through the South. I've been without power for
several days and Mark is out of town.
At first, it was a bit of an adventure. We briefly lived in Colorado so our closet is stocked with unused ski gear. I layered up in three pairs of pants, three shirts, a coat, hat, scarf, and three pairs of socks (apparently I think three of anything is good). I read by a book by flashlight and slept in my sub-zero sleeping bag on the couch. Ice-covered limbs crashing into the yard woke me up several times. The next morning my cell phone died. That's when I began to panic just a bit. I sat down on the bed and prayed, "God, what do I do now?"
Just then I heard a knock on the door. It was my friend Brian and he had come to rescue me. So now I'm hanging out with his wife Cynthia, who is also my dear friend, and their little boy Austin. We just finished "cooking" a pie, cake, brownies, spaghetti, pizza, casserole, and eggs on Austin's toy stove. A moment ago He announced from the kitchen that I'm his girlfriend. Even as a toddler, it appears the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
The power just flickered so I'm going to post this while I still can. I hope all of you are warm and safe!
Last week my Mom and I were strolling down Main Street in the quaint town where my grandparents live when a used bookstore caught my eye. The shelves inside were crammed floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall. I thought if one more book had been added the place might burst in an explosion of pages and paperbacks.
I snuck down the stairs to the musty, dusty basement (you know the kind). On the last shelf, of the last row, I saw the book in the photo below...
It's Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie, a former Hallmark employee and one of the most revered creatives (although highly unconventional) in the publishing industry. I'd always wanted to read it so I picked it up, opened the cover, and saw this inscription inside...
In case you can't read it that it says, "Jason, It's great to be orbiting with you! Mike." There's also a date that you can't see, 5/1/01. Of course, lots of used books have inscriptions. It's kind've part of the mystery. You can imagine who the people might be and how the book got there.
But this time I didn't have to do any imagining. Jason is a dear friend and a very talented professional colleague of mine in the publishing industry. Mike is my senior manager at DaySpring. My mind started spinning...of all the bookstores in all the world, how did I possibly end up with this book?
My first thought was that Jason might have been a naughty boy and given away the boss's book when he moved to Ohio a few years ago. But knowing Jason that probably wasn't the case. So I shot him an e-mail that said, "Did I really just buy your book in a random shop miles from where either of us live?"
He wrote back something along the lines of, "I'm trying to wrap my mind around this. I did get the book in 2001, really liked it, and loaned it to someone...and now you're telling me it shows up in Van Buren?"
So where do you think that book was all those years?
I'd like to think that as a good leader Mike gave the book to Jason to inspire him (which he did). Then Jason (as one of the most encouraging guys I know) wanted to share the inspiration. Then whoever he loaned it to caught the bug and innocently passed it on to someone else, who showed it to someone else, and on down the line. It's been eight years so someone probably eventually wondered, "Who are Jason and Mike?" Then they released the book back into the world where it came full circle to me.
If the inscription hadn't been there, I never would have known how connected I was to that book. It makes me wonder how many other experiences I have like that without even realizing it. One person encourages another who encourages another until it gets to me...and I have no idea the crazy path God has taken all that encouragement on just so I could be blessed by it too.
It's cool. It's crazy. It's connection.
What do you think?
Read My New Book!
