Gratituesday: Friendships

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with many wonderful friendships in the three years since we've moved here. In the beginning, it was very lonely. I was in a new town (quite a bit larger than any I had ever lived in!), a new mommy, a new home. I remember packing Isabella up in her stroller to walk around the church parking lot, just to get out of the house, and as a good excuse to stop in and see everyone in the church office! Sometimes that was the only way I would speak to an adult before supper time when Scott would come home. Poor guy! I probably about knocked him over with my chattiness during those days!

I have gotten to know many moms through our MOPS group. It was (and is!) so exciting to get to meet with a group of mom every other week who knew how I felt, what I was going through, and could give me advice and help, and most of all, perspective. I highly recommend finding a group to plug into in your area!

I have connected with one friend, Shari, in a way that I know we will forever be friends. As fellow pastors' wives, we understand one another in a way that others may never know. We've known of one another for a long time. We attend senior high church camp and college together. We even roomed together during our orientation weekend prior to college. In all of that time, more than 8 years, we never really got to know one another. However, life brought us together again when she and her husband, Troy, accepted a position at our church just after we had moved there to begin our new position. I think both of us were relieved to have someone we 'knew' at the church, and could really relate to. Shari spent many days in our home while Troy was working and they were looking for a home. She helped me put up our Christmas tree, and explored the Home and Garden show with me. We contemplated purchasing a home directly behind theirs, but we decided walking distance was good:) We have walked one another through pregnancies, a miscarriage, new babies, and job changes (for us and our husbands). Though we don't talk everyday, or even every week, I always know I can pick up the phone and Shari will know exactly what I'm talking about. It isn't often we are blessed with friends like this.

This is not to say that I don't have other friends that I feel very close to. There are many that I know I can call on whenever I need help. There are some that I will share secrets of motherhood and life with. I have interests that I share with some that others do not. I am thankful for all of my friends! God has place each one in my life for this time and place. Each one teaches me something new about myself and God's love.

We had a slumber party for the MOPS leadership this past weekend. It was a great time for me to realize that I have so many new friends that I had never laid eyes on three years ago. Some I have gotten to know well, some are brand new. I can't wait to get to know each one a little better.

I received a card a few years ago that said something I will never forget, "God has placed you in my life for such a time as this." God provides the exact friends we need exactly when we need them.

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