We have had a wonderful time in the U.S. It has been filled with family, friends, shopping and eating at restaurants. I have skipped through Target and have eaten as many juicy cheeseburgers as I can. Meeting with friends and family can be tricky...kind of like a puzzle. Who can meet when, and then should it be with or without kids, and therefore, should I get a sitter. Of course, we also have plenty of doctor and dentist appointments, and we try to squeeze in a little time for just our family, or do I dare say it, a date night.
Last weekend was one of those gifts that I treasured from the start, knowing how rare these opportunities happen. I was able to fly to Colorado Springs, by myself, and meet two dear friends who I lived life with during those early married years through the baby and young children phase. In fact, Jodi has been my mentor/friend since college days...almost 20 years ago. Jen came along just before I gave birth to my oldest. We cemented our friendship by doing ministry together, being in a couples small group, bible study and spur of the moment dinners and play dates. It was such a fun season of life. And then life brought change and distance. Jen and her family moved back to the Northwest to be closer to family eight years ago, and shortly after that the Lord led Jodi and her family to Colorado. But this weekend proved to me, yet again, that when Christ is your bond, distance and time cannot touch a friendship. We spent hours upon hours just talking and catching up. Enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather on Jodi's patio...no bugs or humidity...it was glorious!
Jodi even surprised Jen and I with a surprise visit from our long time mentor and friend. This woman has seen us through much of those previous years, and I even get the privilege of still meeting with her when I am in town. She and Jodi concocted a plan to surprise Jen and I, and she and her husband walked in the house, just as I was describing something from dinner my husband and I just had at her house the previous Monday. To say that I was surprised would be a definite understatement, as I probably took out some of Nancy's hearing with my screams. But what an incredible gift for the four of us to be together again. It was clearly one of those "mountain-top experiences" where you want to pitch your tent and stay for awhile. We treasured this time, and then also had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with a handful of Jodi's newer friends from Colorado. And then, before we knew it, it was over and life's responsibilities beckoned. We all went on our way, holding on tight to our memories and the hope that if it could happen once, it could happen again.
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