I just got the most amazing phone call: our good friends, the Johnsons, just called to see if we were free for a "spur of the moment" visit. They are visiting other friends in Harrisburg, and since we've moved away, it's become much harder for them to get us all in, in one trip. It must be the Lord, because all our other plans for the holiday had fallen through in various stages. So - I can hardly contain my excitement! - we are being blessed with a spontaneous weekend visit with our dear friends.
These friends have been such constants in our lives. We met when we were all young married KIDS, with no kids of our own yet. We spent many happy years, cementing our friendships and doing all the fun things that young married couples can do without the baggage (literally!) of kids. (Not that I mind the diaper bags and bottles and diapers, just to be clear!) We went to local festivals, checked out local eateries, went to movies, did sleep overs when hanging out got too late, talked (uninterrupted!) for hours and enjoyed every minute of it.
And when the babies did come along, we held each other's kids, swapped date nights, visited at the hospitals, prayed together, cried together and laughed at all our new parent mistakes together. This friendship went through many fires and trials and tears along with the joys and the laughter of life together. And plenty of morning (all day!) sickness together too.
Then they headed off to Bible school. It was so hard to see them go, even though it was absolutely the right thing for them to do. It was hard to pray for them but not be able to DO anything for them from the distance. It was hard to remember that I couldn't just drop in to their little home on Kent Street anymore. It was especially hard to be apart during the loss of a child - we had to grieve their loss with them, away from them. It was hard to cram all our kids together in their little apartment on campus when we visited. But this friendship was WORTH all those hardships.
Harder still was leaving Mechanicsburg. For all the reasons that you already can imagine, but hard with the added pain of knowing that it was one more step removed from this couple and their "route" of visits and travel. And it got harder yet, when they left NY and headed to VA for a Master's program at Regent. Our access became mostly email and phone calls - lots of long, late night phone calls! In fact, I think it's been more than two years since we were together in person.
The level of excitement and delirium in the house right now is palpable. We love that they are comfortable just calling like that to fit us in. I LOVE that God knew how blessed we'd be, in spite of our earlier disappointment that other plans failed. So, I'm off to plan some meals (they have 5 kids now!) and to try and calm myself down. After all, they won't be here till after 11 tonite. There's no way I can sustain that level of delirium and adrenaline for the next 10 hours. Well, I can, but I better not. :)
These friends have been such constants in our lives. We met when we were all young married KIDS, with no kids of our own yet. We spent many happy years, cementing our friendships and doing all the fun things that young married couples can do without the baggage (literally!) of kids. (Not that I mind the diaper bags and bottles and diapers, just to be clear!) We went to local festivals, checked out local eateries, went to movies, did sleep overs when hanging out got too late, talked (uninterrupted!) for hours and enjoyed every minute of it.
And when the babies did come along, we held each other's kids, swapped date nights, visited at the hospitals, prayed together, cried together and laughed at all our new parent mistakes together. This friendship went through many fires and trials and tears along with the joys and the laughter of life together. And plenty of morning (all day!) sickness together too.
Then they headed off to Bible school. It was so hard to see them go, even though it was absolutely the right thing for them to do. It was hard to pray for them but not be able to DO anything for them from the distance. It was hard to remember that I couldn't just drop in to their little home on Kent Street anymore. It was especially hard to be apart during the loss of a child - we had to grieve their loss with them, away from them. It was hard to cram all our kids together in their little apartment on campus when we visited. But this friendship was WORTH all those hardships.
Harder still was leaving Mechanicsburg. For all the reasons that you already can imagine, but hard with the added pain of knowing that it was one more step removed from this couple and their "route" of visits and travel. And it got harder yet, when they left NY and headed to VA for a Master's program at Regent. Our access became mostly email and phone calls - lots of long, late night phone calls! In fact, I think it's been more than two years since we were together in person.
The level of excitement and delirium in the house right now is palpable. We love that they are comfortable just calling like that to fit us in. I LOVE that God knew how blessed we'd be, in spite of our earlier disappointment that other plans failed. So, I'm off to plan some meals (they have 5 kids now!) and to try and calm myself down. After all, they won't be here till after 11 tonite. There's no way I can sustain that level of delirium and adrenaline for the next 10 hours. Well, I can, but I better not. :)
1 comment:
How fun!
What a wonderful, spontaneous surprise!
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