refreshing friends

We were incredibly blessed to have our dear friends, Jamey and Cara, and their four children stay with us Sunday night...er...make that Monday morning. Cara and I first met at two different perspective Bible colleges we were visiting as high school seniors. I am happy to report we both decided on the same college and soon became very good friends. Jamey and Cara were a GLORIOUSLY-in-love couple on our small campus. They spent every possible second together, always talking, laughing, getting to know their soul mate deeply yet finding that knowledge never lessened their increasing infatuation with the other. It is so neat to see them now, 16 years plus four kids later--they still laugh so easily together (Cara still laughs at Jamey's jokes!!), find their relaxation in each other, complement each other's ministry, love talking and relating, and you aren't around them long before you are drawn into a deep conversation about God--what it means to know Him, relate to Him, and rightly relate to others.

There are few people in life who can make you feel as if you have perfected the art of being. They make you wonder at the amazing truth that we are created for relationship--we don't have to "go anywhere," "do anything" except be here with each other and relate. We sure took our fill of relating to each other from their visit. They drove several hours out of their way to spend the day with us, and we decided rather than "waste" the day driving all around doing stuff we just wanted to let the kids play together and the adults have a chance to talk (and eat!). Our boys amused themselves greatly by digging holes (literally) and chipping "crystal" out of some old rocks in our yard.

The girls played dollhouse, giggled, picked flowers, traded shoes, and giggled some more. Cara and I talked for umpteen hours straight. The guys did go down to Trinity for a few hours but mostly talked the day away together as well. We finally hit the Kenosha museum late in the afternoon before eating gumbo together and then saying a joyous (because everybody had made such great memories) good-bye with promises of the next big gathering.

I can't imagine a more fun or more refreshing way to spend the day. And as Josiah said at breakfast the next morning, "Could they please come back for sixteen more days?"

Two tired and happy friends--we stayed up waaaaaay too late to maximize our short visit--and learned we aren't as adaptable to those late night talks as we were in our college days.

Now to get Cara blogging...