Too Special

Sometimes, during the most special moments, you forget to take pictures. The people you are with capture your whole heart and whole attention and when you grasp hold of time again you realize you have forgotten to take any solid proof of those sweet moments…you were too busy living them. They are too special anyway for the harshness of real light and photos to capture. 

Such was my week. My dear friend came to visit with her husband and oldest son. Distance and circumstances have left us without a face to face connection for nearly four years. Too long.  I had forgotten how much our friendship had formed me.

I had forgotten how much of myself was influenced by our conversations, ideas; tea sipping banter over theology and good books. I had forgotten how much I needed to hug a friend that has shared so much side by side: loss and joy and ideals carried and formed by one another in a different season of our lives.She is a friend that truly whispers the secrets of the Kingdom of God with her words of encouragement, the squeeze of a hand; the tickling of my baby’s belly with sheer delight in her eyes as she holds her for the first time.

Do you have someone like this in your life? It takes time to forge bonds. It can start slow over park play and lattes in hand and go on like this for a while. And when conversations deepen and our false selves shed, it can be scary to get close, to reveal who we really are: broken and imperfect. 

But, my sweet friends…it is so worth it. It is worth the grit and the work, worth the pouring in and phone calls when you’d rather just collapse in bed, worth the tear stained cheek prayers for hope in each other’s lives, worth the loss of everyday connection and miles of separation that leave you feeling alone again.

My prayer is that you champion ahead in relationships and love that is mysterious and can be known. My prayer is for friendship that rivals all the ups and downs you experience because you are joining with others on your journey. Its just too special to not try.