Friends

Today I was reminded over and over again of the amazing friendships that we are surrounded by. It is funny because I have always longed for these kinds of friendships and sought them out but it was when I stopped trying to make them happen, that they finally happened.

I woke up and before Joel went to work we prayed for our friends who are in the last stages of their adoption and our other friends who are preparing to move overseas. Then I had to get my tail in gear because I am doing a fundraiser for our adoption tomorrow that requires a lot of baking. I was calculating how many cups of flour I needed and dreading the shopping trip in the wet cold weather with two kids. Then I got a text from a friend offering to take them off of my hands in case I needed to do any errands for the fundraiser. How convenient! Joel took a friend to the airport, then another friend and neighbor came by to borrow a book for her daughter’s book report and offered to take Ethan tomorrow afternoon. Another friend stopped by with a mysterious white envelope which I later opened and found a check (for a lot of money) meant to contribute toward our adoption. Although I couldn’t believe it, I could totally believe it. I did my shopping and came to pick up the kids from my friend’s house (who is also donating her kitchen for all of the baking tomorrow) and found yet another friend there with her. One friend was helping the other with her monthly budget. My friend fed me (our left overs from a “friendsgiving” dinner we had on Sunday) and I left to go home because she was getting ready to have my other friends over for dinner. I came home, my piano teacher (who is a friend) cancelled because of the holiday and so I made dinner. My friend/sister in law/neighbor walked over to hang out and have a glass of wine. She left and I sat down to go over things for tomorrow and got a text from a friend offering to help deliver baked pies tomorrow and another friend offering to watch Ethan tomorrow afternoon.

I have heard my friend Havilah use the phrase “doing life together” many times and have always wondered what that would really look like. I took a bath tonight with my glass of wine while Joel played with the kids while contemplating my day. I though, “This is what ‘doing life together’ is”. Today was particularly full of interaction, but the truth is that it is like that a lot. Every time I turn around, I have someone bending over backwards for me. I hope I am doing the same for them. I have recently been thinking that one mark of a great friend is their ability to spur you on when you can’t even think and keeping tabs on your life when you’ve lost track. I kind of disappeared last week because I catered a big event and had too much going. As soon as the dust settled, there were my friends, wanting to know every detail and any adoption updates. “What do you need? What can I do? How can I help?”. It is sometimes too much to believe. I sent off a packet of paperwork to our adoption agency today and we all kissed the envelope. We were all excited and beaming, but I could almost hear the chorus of people around us all celebrating too.

I have been trying hard to really savor this season. I know that life changes with time and it brings new things. Sometimes circumstances don’t always allow us to be in community with other people the way that we want to. But right now I feel like I am in the land of milk and honey when it comes to friendship and I want to enjoy every minute of it.