The Friend Factor

The past few weeks have been great. Brian and I were invited to share in our friend's wedding in Atlanta. We felt very privileged to watch two people totally in love start their lives together. While we were in Atlanta, we were able to spend some great time with my parents, lots of friends at the wedding, and even more friends for a lunch in Buckhead. We've had some visitors, which we just love to have. Work is going well, I'm learning more and more, but still sometimes getting stuck on what seems to be so basic to others. Church is great, I really enjoy working with the class I get on Sundays. But, one thing is missing. Friends...





We've been very blessed in our lives with amazing friends, many of whom are like family to us. Unfortunately, they all live in other states, or live in NC but just are not that close to Charlotte. When I met Brian, one of the first things I learned about him was I would have to love his family and friends as much as he did if I was going to be a part of his life forever. Lucky for me, that was easy. Brian has friends as far back as elementary school. They are all married now, and even luckier for me, all of their wives are amazing. When we go to Louisville, it feels like we live there and never miss a beat. When we aren't there, both of us miss everyone. We get to visit a few times a year, and some of them are able to come and visit us throughout the year. Since I only have a brother, I always longed for a sister, some of them are just that to me.




We've shared infertility struggles, weddings, birth celebrations, birthday parties, luaus, 4 Thunders Over Louisville, vacations together, camping trips, new houses, big moves, and so much more just since I have met them.




Our friends from Atlanta are just as wonderful. While we don't have as long of a past with most, the bond is still great. I know I can call any of them up at any time and they would be there for us no matter what. We've shared so many life experiences together that we are all grateful for. Moving away from them was hard, and it put a bit of a strain on these relationships initially, but that got fixed rather quickly.



So, we have great friends all over. But, what I am missing while living in Charlotte, is having those types of friends here. We have met people, hung out with others, shared a few meals together, but I still miss our Louisville and Atlanta friends. I miss they terribly. I know things will change and as we get more involved in church, volunteering and meeting people at work it will get easier and we'll make more friendships. But, nothing will ever replace what we already cherish. Nor do we want to replace what we already share.



Since living here, we've had a good number of people come to visit, and it has been wonderful to know people want to come here to see us. September will bring around another great wedding in Atlanta. In October, we are planning a big weekend here with a group of friends to go to a race. Next February we plan on going up to Louisville for the triplets birthday party. And we could never forget Thunder in April.





While it can get easy sometimes to focus on what we don't have here in Charlotte yet, it's peaceful to know what we do have. We have wonderful friends who we cherish greatly. We've created memories, shared tears, cooked meals, planned trips, watched families grow, and learned to hold close to our hearts the people we hold dear.

I'm Seven Feet Tall

Brian and I are extremely blessed to have the opportunity to know some families with awesome kids. Until we can have children of our own, we totally enjoy the opportunities to see our friends' kids and watch them grow up. We love getting updates of our friends in Louisville and Atlanta and their families. There is nothing cooler than watching kids grow up! We have been blessed to have so many friends with a desire to raise children and have a family in a Godly way.

On Sundays, I have been volunteering at our church in Waumba land. Waumba Land is an environment for infants to children five years old. The goal of Waumba is to teach the kids that God made them, God loves them and Jesus wants to be their friend forever. It is an amazing program and one of the reasons why we come to this church, so that when we do have kids, we know what kind of environment they will have at church.

This Sunday, I was in charge of my room of 5 year olds for the majority of the time. Kids are so amazing and funny! We learned about Joseph today and his 10 brothers. While they were listening to the story from our storyteller, I was pretty sure than they weren't paying attention to most of it. However, when we got back to our room and talked about it, I was amazed at how much they learned and told me. One of the little girls said she needs to be more like Joseph and learn to forgive her brothers. At the end of class today, we prayed. If you have never watched kids pray, you need to! They are the sweetest, most honest and innocent prayers ever.




So, this past Saturday, Brian and I got to "hang out" with our friends two kids. I say hang out because they are 12 and 9 (Austin and Emily), so they don't really need a baby-sitter, but are at that age where they can't stay alone at night for a long time. We also got to watch their 4 year old cousin, Liam. This was the first time we met Liam, and what a character! All of us had a great time swimming, barbecueing, baking cookies and watching a movie. The best part was engaging in conversations with Liam.

Liam is convinced he is 7 feet tall, is going to be a dolphin, and is the King Of Wipeouts in the pool. Not one person could change his mind on these things. Hanging out with him reminded me what is so great about children. They truly have amazing dreams and nothing can change that! He wants to be a dolphin so he can swim oversees to Germany to visit his Daddy who is in the military. He is the King Of Wipeouts because he can do the best underwater flips in the world. And, he is 7 feet tall and will grow to 40 feet tall because he just believes it. When I put him to bed, we prayed. He led the prayer, which was for his Daddy who is fighting for his freedom in Germany. Liam knew why his dad is gone and what he is doing. He also prayed that he could be a dolphin to swim over and see him.

As a teenager, I went on a retreat focused on having faith like a child. This weekend, with these kids, I saw first hand what it is like to have the faith of a child. To believe in a dream that you want to have come true and not be unwaivered in so amazing and inspiring to see. They have no outside influences that tell them otherwise. They simply know what they want and ask God for it.

The best part of my weekend was having Brian home Saturday, volunteering in Waumba and meeting a 7 feet tall 4 year old and getting to hear his sweet innocent prayers.