in the Father's Hands we know...That a lifetime's not too long, to live as Friends!
Yes, that is from the ancient old Michael W Smith song "Friends." Why the title? Well, me and some girlfriends were at dinner on Friday night sending one of our dear friends off before she moved today. And on the way home...of ALL songs, this was the one playing on the radio. Goodness, I don't think I have teared up at this song since I was in like Junior High when it first came out! But yes, between the laughing at the irony of this song coming on at that very moment, there were tears in my eyes.
I just had to write a little bit about Stephanie, who is moving as I type this Blog. As I mentioned in my post on "Heaven's Embrace," I have been blessed with a wonderful group of friends. The ladies at this table are rare finds. Each friendship is God ordained and I am so grateful. As Stephanie looked at the table that night, her eyes filled up with tears as she began to tell us how much we all meant to her. She made the comment that her leaving does not mean that this is over, that the friendship ends, that the closeness is any less close. She also commented that she will not settle for any type of less friendship in her new town, than what she found at that table.
As I thought about that, I thought about how God is truly going to bless some ladies in San Marcus with the gift of her. What we have learned together about friendships is something that we can all take away with us in our daily lives and give to others. Friendship is truly one of the greatest blessings of life. Little did I know when praying through a theme for our Women's Retreat this year: Heaven's Embrace--Celebrating the Essence of Friendship...how much that would empact me this year. And then our theme verse is Ruth 1:16-17.
I have been challenged by Steph in so many ways. The biggest way being to always remember my purpose in life. It's easy to get caught up in the rat race of this life and forget why we were put her in the first place. My purpose? To be the best wife and mom I can be. To be the Proverbs 31 Woman. To seek after God every day of my life. And Steph has taught me in so many ways to remember that and focus on that.
Steph, I will miss our families getting together every other week and having dinner and then brownies and ice cream. I am going to miss our times at the Wiggles Center. I will miss snuggling with sweet Adam and Adeline. I will so miss my boys playing with Adeline and fighting for her attention. I will simply miss seeing your face, seeing your smile and feeling your heart from week to week. But I know that God has a GREAT plan for you my friend.
So, as we send her off to the next adventure for her and her family, we are left with her deeply engrained in our hearts forever. I am so excited to see the ministry that God is going to give them. In some weird way, I feel like we sent them off to the mission field! BTW...you can see what God has been doing in her life by clicking on her blog page on the right (Shane/Steph).
So, thanks to all my friends who have taught me so much. I don't take any of you for granted.
We love you guys. We'll see you soon.
1 comment:
ok, so I am speechless. I think I have pretended that everyone is still down the street. I am truly so sad about leaving everyone. You have impacted my life more than you will ever know. You and Brian have invested Shane and I more than anyone ever has as a couple. Our marriage will not be the same because of you. I truly mean that. I love you so much and will miss the closeness of our friendship, but I know that I have one more mentor in life that I can call at anytime. Thank you!!
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