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Following Him

It's been kind of a crazy week, but when you have a large family full of pets, why expect things to go smoothly, right? It started out as one of those days when you have to keep your priorities straight. We have an older friend who's been sick and is in a rehabilitation home. B-Boo and I had gone to see him the night before and he never knew we were there. The Drama Queen had wanted to go then, but I told her I'd see how he is and then possibly bring her the next morning before we got on with our day.

Well, yesterday was that morning. We're about to head out of town with our youth group and so I had a lot of stuff to do and a little time to do it in. I had to be finished by one because I needed to get the older kids home from school, one had a doctor appointment, then we had swim lessons, I still needed to get all of us packed and so on. I really did not have time to make another trip to the rehabilitation home. I thought to myself that he was probably still sleeping and would not even realize we were there again. I had pretty much made up my mind that when I went downstairs, I'd let the Drama Queen know we would go visit him when we got back in town.

About that time, she showed up upstairs instead. For once, she was ready to go. And while I'd been upstairs taking a shower and getting dressed, apparently she'd been downstairs making a get well card for our dear friend. It was beautiful, too. All decked out with hearts and glitter and a smiley face. She wanted to know if she could please sign my name to it, too.

And that's when I remembered my Bible Study that I'm teaching. It's all about teaching our youth how to follow Christ. It's really easier than we make it out to be. That's what I told them. I also challenged them to do something this week to follow Him in motion. I told them it could be as simple as sending someone a card, but to make sure they did something. And here I was, thinking about MY busy life instead of doing exactly what I'd challenged our teens to do! But the Drama Queen got it all by herself.

So we headed out to the rehab home. And our friend was gone when we got there. We found him. He was awake and alert and in physical therapy! He was not able to talk to us, but the minute we walked in a huge smile lit up his face. His wife was there, also, so we got to visit with her a little bit. The kids were able to help our friend with his physical therapy. When he'd zone out, the Drama Queen would get his attention again and ask him to try and touch her hand. Such a simple thing really, and so hard for our friend to do, but he was willing to try when he saw that sweet little girl encouraging him. So we walked our friend out to say goodbye and then went back in to help some more with the physical therapy. Both the man and the Drama Queen took helping to task. We'd moved on to colors now, so they'd encourage him to move his hand towards whatever color he called out. We stayed for a while longer and then headed out to our day.

And a crazy day it did end up being. Things went wrong in our normal craziness, but we managed to get through it anyway. At the last minute, with packing still needing to be done and dogs needed to be bathed, we found one of our pups had an ear infections. This meant a late night trip to the vet and more craziness.

But I went to bed last night, not stressed with all I did not get accomplished. I was not so worried about what I still needed to do in the morning before we left. Instead, I went to bed thanking God last night for my special children. It was a little girl with a big heart who reminded me just how simple it really is to follow Him.

The Blessings of Friendship

The other night three of my best friends and I went out for dinner and a show (Phantom of the Opera) in a late celebration of my big 40.  While we were there, one of them commented on how different each of my friends are. I’ve been pondering this over the past couple of days, reflecting on friendship.

Several years ago, I remember praying and asking God to bring me a really close friend. You know, the kind that is always there. The one that you have everything in common with and do everything with. Not long after, God brought a wonderful woman in my life. Our husbands got along great; our children were the same age and gender! We spent some wonderful times together over the next couple of years. We never fought, we were together all the time and we were there for one another. Then, something changed. I’m not really sure what happened, but things changed. All of a sudden, everything was so different. I remember the two of us having a tear filled *goodbye* of sorts as we realized our friendship had become a thing of the past.  I was heartbroken. I had thought that she was the friend that I had prayed for and I was apparently wrong.  We still talked, but not every morning. We saw each other now and then, but we weren’t together all the time. Things just…changed…and we grew apart.  It wasn’t until her husband became seriously ill that our friendship took a serious turn for the better and grew into something more…and then she moved away. 🙂

But, in the time between the struggle and the illness, God showed me that He had other plans for the women in my life; one to fill each area of my needs in friendship. He brought forth friendship in a way that I’d have never dreamed and only He could fulfill.

The first was a sweet, sweet person who was already there. I was just so busy looking for that perfect friend from God that I couldn’t see what He’d already blessed me with.  We really don’t have a lot in common and we’re about as opposite as you can get. We grew up in two totally different lifestyles. She grew up in a strong, Christian background with what seemed to be the picture perfect life. All planned out and according to plan; college, career and then children. One of the sweetest women you’ll ever know; the kind that always puts a smile on your face and can make you laugh at anything.

I grew up camping almost every weekend and never went to church. I didn’t graduate from college, didn’t have a career,didn’t find my Savior until I was 22, had a ton of kids, and was a stay at home mom who home schooled.

And yet, from the moment we met, we’ve never stopped talking. She’ll pray for me, lift me up, hold me accountable, and make me laugh. I think for those few years when she was working and I was at home and our lives were so different that I thought maybe I needed more. I was wrong.  Our friendship has lasted 16 years now and is such a blessing to me.

Then there’s my short little Jewish friend. She’s so vastly different than anyone I know. She’s a teacher in a small charter school, but has her masters and is so smart and educated I’d never be able to comprehend all that she knows. She sports a short, spiked hair cut that always has some shade of purple or pink to it. She’s got spunk and isn’t afraid to show it! Our friendship spans 10+ years now. We met when our daughter’s were in gymnastics together. I’d probably have to say that our friendship made a turning point when my husband and I went through a time of great trial while battling to keep my niece from a drug infested home. Throughout those few years she was a constant source of strength for me. When I didn’t think I could go on, she was there to physically lend a hand, even if it meant taking one of my children to work with her!  Our’s is a spontaneous friendship. We don’t generally have a lot of time to plan, but we work well to just jump in and have at it! We can look at each other and know what the other is thinking and make a strong force when we stand together. Our faiths are so different, yet we’ve managed to have amazing discussions on our differences and pray for and hold each other up despite them. We’ve spent nearly every holiday together for several years now and she is so much more than just a friend.

Last year, I had the pleasure of working with her for nine months as her Teacher’s Assistant. This was, by far, one of the hardest, most exhausting, yet funnest times of my life. It definitely gave me a whole new sense of just what my friend was about and I will treasure it for years to come!

My Always friend, ME, My little Jewish friend

And then there’s my other friend. We’ve known each other for about seven years now.  I’d say out of the three of them, this is the one I have the most in common with. We both have five kids and a madhouse most days! I’ll admit I didn’t like her much the first time I met her, but she kind of grows on you! She’s another one that is just there for you through thick and thin. Our daughter’s competed together in gymnastics. She’s the one that would take my allergic daughter with her whenever I needed…and she wasn’t afraid to do it! My youngest daughter has severe food allergies; fatal allergies to peanuts. Most of my friends are afraid to take her on and I can’t say that I blame them. She’s also high strung and fearless, which doesn’t help. When my friend above was helping me with my niece (who was a challenge enough in those days!), this friend would just grab my daughter and take her with her wherever she went. I can’t express how thankful I am for that. She understands my drama queen and relishes her rather than trying to escape from her!

Unfortunately she moved a couple of years ago. That was hard, but even then, God had bigger plans that we couldn’t have begun to see! We mostly stay in touch through text messaging, but we stay together. Last fall, when our older daughter was very sick, we had to take her out of state to a specialist for surgery. I found a surgeon who agreed to take her on and guess what? God had moved my friend to a place within an hour of the hospital. He knew what we’d need years before we needed it and provided it for us! We were able to stay with her for the couple of weeks of surgery and recovery instead of staying in a hotel or Ronald McDonald house.

And so as I think about my friend’s comment the other night, I have to laugh at the four of us! We are quite the team of misfits, and yet, they are so special to me. I think about the prayer of so long ago. The one where I asked God to bring me that one great friend, and how disappointed I was when He didn’t. Now I can say “thank you” to Him, because He knew what I needed and He provided it to me not in one, but three wonderful women who would become more than I could have ever asked for!

The things we do in the name of friendship!

I've been blessed with some great friends in life. There are four in my life right now that have been with me through thick and thin; literally! When God blesses you with friends like these, somehow life becomes so much more easy to get through. Other times we're just blessed with the craziness and laughter of what is. Monday evening was one of those times.

One of my dear friends used to live here, but she moved away a couple of years ago. We still get to see each other as she comes back a couple of times each year. They (meaning her and her hubs) own a houseboat and keep it out at the lake. It's Superbowl time, which means her husband will be having his yearly Super Bowl weekend with his friends out at the boat. Monday evening she called and asked if I'd head out to the boat with her to put some type of shine on the floor. This really meant that she was going to be mopping and putting in hard labor. Of course, she just wanted company, but honest, I had every intention of working by her side.

Anyway, we headed out to the lake, which is a about a 45 minute drive, laughing and talking all the while. We finally get the the lake and hop out of the truck. It's about 8:30 pm by now and it's not real warm. We only had sweatshirts on, so, well, it was a bit chilly. Anyway, we grab the mops, drinks, and buckets and look for a cart to take the stuff down to the boat. She finds a cart, we load it up and away we go!

There isn't a soul in site as we laugh our way down. We finally get there and attempt to get in. No such luck; the key that her husband gave her before he left town won't even fit in the hole! We stood there trying, in the dark, for a few moments with no such luck, so she calls her husband. He tells her where to find a flashlight (think very small, batteries almost completely dead, minimal yellow lighted flashlight!). While I shine the dead flashlight, the conversation goes something like this:

Her: "The key doesn't work."
Him: "I know it works, I just used it.""
Her: "I doesn't fit."
Him: "Turn it over and it will work. It's the right key."

(I'm thinking at this point that really, we are not idiots, we know how to use a key, but hey, ok!"

Him: "Are you using the silver, square key?"
Her: "There is no silver square key, it's a silver triangle key."
Him: "No, it's a silver square key."
Her: "The only square key is the main, gold gate key that we just used to get in."
Him: "You need to push it in."
Her: "The key won't go in! It's a house key, it's too big. It will not even go in!"

(Being the great friend that I am, I wait silently through this conversation. OK, well I tried, but it was just so comical! I mean, we're freezing, we've tried all four keys on the key ring several times, we KNOW it's not going to work, but he's insisting we're just doing it wrong. Humor is definitely needed at this time!")

So the conversation continues like this for a bit longer until dear hubby finally realizes that we are not going to get in the door with the key. So what's a guy to do? He thinks we should try using it on the back door! Ok….so we head to the back door with the minimal flashlight and proceed to try and use the magically wrong key on the wrong door. Nope…doesn't work there either.

Her dear husband comes up with a great idea at this point. Just break in! Now, please understand, he's an ex-cop, they've already had a break-in so he's put screws in all the windows so that no one can break in again, but ok…we'll try! He patiently waits on the phone as we go from window to window trying to slide them open even though they are locked and have screws preventing them from budging. Then we try the credit card thing…nope, it's doesn't work either. By now, I'm freezing, dying of laughter, and generally having another great moment with my friend.

After about an hour of this, we finally convince him that we are not getting into the houseboat to mop that floor after all. He's decided to call security by now to have them get the spare key to the boat, so we head back up the long trek to the truck to wait for security. We're laughing at the silliness of this whole thing as we're walking back across the pier when a giant fish jumps out of the lake and attempts to eat me! I jump into said friend while she laughs at me. We laugh that this would make a great blog…us landing in a cold lake in the middle of the night as a fish attempts to eat me all because we couldn't break into a houseboat because we don't know how to use a key properly!

We make it back up to the truck, have a few more laughs and climb in to wait for the security guard that her husband has contacted. About that time, we notice the security truck drive down to the dock, so we drive down to meet him thinking he may be looking for us. I mean, why else would he be there except to rescue us, right? I'm sure he had nothing better to do!

So we drive up and roll down the window and you can tell by the look on his face that he was NOT enjoying his job at the moment! (He's on the phone with her husband trying to explain that someone else has to come down to open the guard office to look for the key and he has to go on his rounds.) Then her husband hangs up and calls her while the guard stands there ever so patiently smoking his cigar.

The other guard shows up so they go off to have a private chat about what we can only imagine is how much they really want to spend their night searching for a key for the two silly women in the truck who only want to mop a floor. The second guard comes over to the truck to ask what the key looks like while the other guard goes off to make his rounds. My friend offers to go with him to find it, but we're not allowed, so she describes the key and he goes off to find it. (We see two other guards join the first two at the guard office and have a chat about which we are just so sure having nothing to do with the two of us sitting in the van or the husband that won't leave them alone!

A bit later the first guard comes back to the truck, still working on that cigar, and asks us to go down with him to find the key because they can't find it. Really, it is rather funny, don't you think? So we walk down the pier making sure not to be attacked by any giant fish on the way. The other guard is sitting there with the drawer open going through all of the keys. Nope, not that one. No, that isn't it. This goes on as he makes it through several keys. My friend patiently tells him once again that it is a key on a black tie thing. He shows her the only key like that with the name of Kevin so and so. Hmmm…didn't her husband say that it was Kevin who had the key last? But no, their key seems to be missing and if this Kevin had it then he probably locked it away in his toolbox and no one has the key except for him. All this to say, we were out of luck! By now it was almost ten at night and it seemed that those floors were not going to get mopped after all! But we tried, we really did!

We laughed our way back up to the truck once again and headed for home, all the while laughing about the things we do in the name of friendship!

And the end of the story? Turns out the security guard did have the key after all and we really did have the wrong key. I'd be willing to bet it was the key with Kevin's name on it!