A special Friendship

One of the more frustrating aspects of my story is that I have very dear friends all over the country. I am grateful to have these friends, but I wish I could keep them all with me. This last month the Lord has shown me the joy of continuing to invest in some of those friendships, and particularly with the woman who was my "best friend" through most of my childhood. I suppose Meghan and I were 8 or 9 years old when we met. That means we went through puberty together, and that in and of itself makes it a miracle that we are still close! :-) We made our lists of guys we liked, played MASH, spent 200 hours trying to put up a tent in our backyard, and that night my mom came and prayed for our future husbands. We also fought and joined different cliques and had our days of not being so nice. I'm not sure how Meghan remembers those moments, all I remember is that sometimes we really got along and sometimes not. I also remember she loved me even though I wasn't one of the "cool kids".

When we went our separate ways for college, I remember wondering what would happen to this precious friendship. As it happened the distance and maturing of the last nearly 10 years has only brought us closer together. And in 2006 we both married our husbands, and celebrated together in the same backyard where years before my mom had prayed. Now she and her husband are Aunt Meghan and Uncle Jeremy to our kids.

A few weeks ago Meghan gave us the greatest gift by taking time to visit us in our new home and help unpack. Noah's typical response to people is a bit of shyness at first, and then very friendly but not affectionate. Meghan came in and he did the shy bit, but within only a couple hours he was crawling in her lap and having the time of his life. It was such a great joy for me to watch their mutual affection!
During our time in Bluefield, Meghan gave me the best gift I could have hoped for - an evening with a friend without kids. We are both longing for more friendship right now, and she pressed me to figure out how to get away for some girl time. For three whole hours I was not responding to diapers, hungry bellies, and discipline issues, but gabbing with a wonderful woman about the struggles and joys of our lives (which of course included some gabbing about the owners of those diapers). I felt lavished by the love of her friendship, and I pray she does as well. I am so grateful for this beautiful woman!

Going home to our Mountains

We spent the first week of September in Bluefield and Roanoke. This was our first trip back since we were laid off, and it was nice coming home in a more stable place. The main reason for our trip was to have Abby baptized at CTK, our Church in Roanoke. I keep expecting to be disappointed when I return to Roanoke. After all, it has been a year since we left, and I know even if we moved back it would never be exactly the same. But I wasn't disappointed at all! Seeing my friends, worshiping at CTK, and driving around Roanoke all felt like coming home. Mercifully, leaving was not nearly as traumatic this time. As I drove from Roanoke to Bluefield I was overcome by the beauty of the area and the emotion of leaving those friends, but I also had hope and confidence that the Lord has great things for us in Ohio. And in fact, as we walked into our house (after a road trip from HELL) we both delighted in being in our home.

(Left to Right: Kim, Val, Me, Rebekah, and Amanda)

One of the highlights from our time in Bluefield was getting to introduce Abigail to her Great Grandparents! Mom and I took the kids to Welch for a visit with Birdie and Pap Pap (my dad's parents). We got to skype with them a few times during Abby's first days, but this was so much better! Abby quickly won them over with her smiles! Isn't that shocking! ;-) Noah always captures the delight of Pap Pap when he expresses his curiosity with the ways things work. He sat in the floor for several minutes figuring out how to screw the cap onto a bottle of water, and later he took Pap Pap's walker for a ride navigating it through doorways with great pride!

I also took Noah and Abby to visit with the Grahams a few times during the week. We were fortunate that our trip corresponded with one of Auntie Ashleigh's trips home so the kids got to see both of their aunts. Adrienne is 4 years old, and she and Noah seem to be able to play together pretty well now. Ashleigh is having a little girl this December, so Noah is going to be well out numbered! Just like his father it seems he is going to be the only boy in a family full of women. Should be good for him. :-)