Friends
If you are lucky, and I mean lucky in the “blessed by God” kind of way, you have one set of friends like our Chuck and Julie. Ones you can wear your pj’s in front of and talk for hours about everything and nothing. Ones with great kids with whom yours get along perfectly. Ones who raise a spiritual bar for you and cheer you on until you clear it only to raise it a bit higher the next pass.
Chuck was one of Luke’s professors in college and through nothing short of Divine favor, his wife Julie and I became fast friends. There was no shortage of tears when Luke graduated and we had to say goodbye to one another. They have visited us in the past, but a missionary appointment for them and several subsequent moves for both our families have prevented us from seeing each other for 8 years.
I was SO excited to find out Chuck was speaking at a conference in N. Carolina and their path from Louisiana would take them directly through our neck of the woods in Alabama. A few emails and phone calls later, and we had ourselves a slumber party scheduled!
We had the most fabulous visit….here are just a few highlights from the trip..
1. The tooth fairy fee for 2 teeth? $4
Two boys who’d kindled an immediate friendship pulling the exact same tooth on the same night? Priceless.
2. A 4th of July Pool Party and Homemade Peach IceCream? $10
The Icecream maker tipping over in the car spilling the unmixed ingredients into the carpet of the Suburban? Priceless.
3. One Redneck Party Pack of fireworks – Cost $35
Whooping it up on the 4th in true Alabama style? Priceless.
4. Great Mexican food with your friends. Cost: $40
Our dignified, brilliant scholar/theologian/author, college vice-president friend karaoke singing, ‘Old Black Train’ with his boy – with a sombrero on his head? Priceless.
5. Package of pastel hair clippies for my little girl. Cost: $3
The same dignified, brilliant scholar/theologian/author, college vice-president friend sitting in our floor and letting that baby girl put all those clips in his hair? Priceless.
6. One pair of walking shoes? $60
A fast walk complete with lots of girl talk with one of your best friends in the world? Priceless.
6. Too much time passing between visits? I can not count the cost.
The promise to never let it happen again? Priceless.
We love you Chuck, Julie and kids! Words can not express what your friendship means to our family. You make us want to be better.
Thank you for gracing our home and our lives……We miss you already!
Wow. You have been blessed. I have a couple girlfriends that come very close, but my sister really tops it off. May you be blessed even more. Thanks for sharing and making me appreciate my great friends and God’s goodness for giving them to me.
How wonderful. There is truly no more special blessing than good friends.
So glad you had a good visit.
Oh. This one wants to make me cry. I agree…those kind of rare jewels of a friendship ARE priceless.
When Mandy and I lived in the same time, we used to beach walk almost every morning with our Jesus. So #6 is a dear one!
And I was cracking up about her putting the hair clips in his hair! Glad y’all were able to reconvene.
sweet sweet post! its encouraging for me to hear that the Lord gave you a dear and lasting friendship at seminary – i’m still on the lookout for that. oh, and shelly’s comment should say when we lived in the same “town” – not time. i miss my beach walks with her!
just wanted to stop by to say a big thanks for commenting on Carole’s blog – she’s gonna be SO blessed to meet you.
Covenant friendship are so wonderful, what a privilage for both parties concerned here.
hair clips to precious.
i really need to find a walking partner my last one has left adn now it no fun without her.
love always me
Love it! So glad you had a wonderful time with friends and hope it isn’t that long before you get together again.
I tagged you today! Come by and see!
I am so thankful for my group of girlfriends. We all go to different churches and are scattered out, but we come together at least once a month to study God’s word, pray for each other, a little girl talk and a whole lot of food.
Friends are a priceless gift from God!
One of my dear friends is coming for an (altogether too short) visit this week. She’s actually one of my “girls.” I was her youth group leader through most of junior high and high school. Ever since college (10+ years ago), we’ve been the closest sisters in Christ.
We’re so looking forward to the visit. Blessed indeed.
What a blessing to have such awesome and wonderful friends like that.
I would love fotos of #5!!
I love this post! You’re right, true friendships like that are to be treasured.
It’s a rare thing to find friends where everyone gets along (both husbands, both wives, kids, etc.) usually it’s one or the other.
A rare thing, my friend. So glad you had a wonderful visit with them and I can’t wait for your visit here!
Those are the rarest and truest of friendships. I’m glad everyone had a marvelous time!
Awww! I’m hoping that I will be able to get together with my very best girl friend in the world when she comes to the states this summer from her home in England! I hope to meet their second child for the first time! Their missionary journey to Asia next year may make it the last time for quite a while . . . I do and will miss them so much! At least in England it’s cheap enough to talk on the phone once in a while! Asia . . . not so cheap.
Thankfully we are confident of our reunion in heaven, if nowhere else!
A
I’m so glad you guys had a good visit! I hope you can get together again very soon!
Love the hair clip image the most!
pleased you had a great time with your friends
I live in AL and saw were you did to! Just wanted to say hey!
jenny williams
pelham, al
What a creative expression of a great weekend! Your post makes me miss our “forever friends” who moved away over 2 years ago! We’ve discovered that friends like that are precious and few and far between. So glad you were able to create such wonderful memories…
Lisa, Jr.
This is too sweet!!!!
And I LOVE it that you have someone who can raise the spiritual bar for you all — that IS a gift from God.
Sounds like your week was perfect!
This was so sweet! I can just see your dignified friend, sitting on the floor while your little girl plays beauty parlor. That is, indeed, priceless! :)