Good Like a Medicine

Last year I flavored up my blog with a series of posts about my friend Emily’s visit with her kids to town to see us. It was such a great trip, and this past week we had another “Emilyweek” at our house! Actually it wasn’t at our house because we stayed at the beach, which was so much more fun and relaxing. It really was relaxing, even with six children under the age of five - ha! My friend Kristie also came with her daughter Karina. Karina, Caroline, and Meredith were born within three months of each other, so they had a blast playing together during our visit.

I cannot believe it has been a year since I have spent time with my friend! It doesn’t seem that way at all because we talk on the phone or email almost every day. I’m sure you can relate if you have “that friend” who never seems far away because you always pick right up where you left off in your last conversation. Emily is that friend to me. I am so thankful for her friendship that goes beyond smiles, “how are you?”’s, and birthday gifts. She is a true friend who walks with me and points me to Christ. She has been through so much with me in the last year. If we would have known last Summer what we were going to go through between then and this Summer, I don’t know if we would have believed it! Friendship in Christ, however, seems to stretch to those kinds of boundaries, and God blesses it richly with memories, tears, prayers, and thanksgiving. It is of course nice that we have so much in common, too. We can share toddlerhood tips and cry about the questions we have burdening us as well as share the joy over similar milestones.

I was so thankful to spend some quality time with Kristie, too. Kristie married Jeff, and Emily married Brian; Jeff and Brian are brothers, so they are really close sister-in-laws. They were friends before their marriages, too, so that is really neat! I can’t describe how awesome I think Kristie is. She is one of those rare women who walks with her heart high because she radiates her faith in Jesus. She is bubbly, joyful, energetic, and laid-back all at the same time. She is such a fabulous mom and an encouragement to me. I just love being around her! When I am around her, I think to myself, “I hope I am a blessing to be around like that!”

When Emily and Kristie pulled up on the first night with their kids in the van, I had just put our children to bed. We tried to wait in the living room, but their tired little eyes just shut and couldn’t hold out any longer. When they got there, I took Ethan to the bedroom to wake up Lydia and Steven, and they were so happy to see each other!

It was so encouraging to be in a house for five days with our children, laughing and playing, but also just enjoying watching each other be mothers to our kids. We have our little ways of doing things differently to be sure, but the thread that holds us in common bond is our love for Christ and wanting our children to love the Lord and enjoy life. It’s just great to be around other mothers who want the main thing to be loving Jesus. Everything else - all the methods and preferences and stuff that keeps those web sites running strong just kind of pales in comparison. I think all of us were truly blessed. Don’t ask how many diapers we changed, though!

Some of the fun things we enjoyed this week were mornings at the beach, watching airplanes and kiteboarders, cooking and trying to get it on the table at lightning speed for hungry toddlers, rocking on the porch, watching movies, Jell-o games, walking on the beach, knitting, playing with shoes, worshipping together at church, flying kites, eating pretzel dogs at the Farmer’s Market, carriage riding, singing with Eric, and staying up talking into the early morning hours. One of the best parts for me was that I put down my camera and let Emily and Kristie take all of the pictures! Oh, it was fun. I pray that we will enjoy many more years with our friends across the miles and that our friendships will grow stronger.

Until next time…