Tag Archive | friendship

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Feb14

I spent my day taking 10 second graders to Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, about an hour and a half drive from Orlando. I’m not a big Valentine’s Day person, but I did buy them little heart cookies to have with their lunches at the lighthouse.

But for the last 20 years or so, there has been a group of us that has gone to dinner right around Valentine’s Day. This group has seen the birth of 9 children and the marriage of one. We’ve talked by cell phone from the restaurant of choice to one couple who moved to Thailand for two years. I was in labor with our second child one year. Had him the next day. We’ve never missed a year.

Jim and Carol have the oldest kids–the one who got married is theirs. David and I had our first “date” babysitting their kids. Carol convinced me to not give up on David when he was being a bozo.

Joel and Marjorie are like family to us. I’ve know Joel since my college days, and he and David used to live together. He was in our wedding and both of us were in theirs. Our kids call them Aunty Marjorie and Uncle Joel.

Greg and Jill have been our good friends for a long, long time. Greg used to be David’s boss. Now he’s one of our pastors. Jill is one of my best friends. She was Morgan’s teacher in first grade. Greg helped David tile our house. David helped Greg reroof his. Can’t get any more friendly than that!

David and Karen are the newest to our group. They filled the gap when Joel and Marjorie were in Thailand. They are friends we can always count on and enjoy spending time with.

This is our group minus David and Karen--before Joel and Marjorie went to Thailand.

It is a joy to have such good friends. Many people have only a couple of people they can count as close as family. We are blessed with these four couples–and many others who have come along into our lives after we started our dinner tradition.

We don’t have a date yet for this year, because the other David has been traveling overseas. He returns tomorrow. I expect we’ll be able to set a date for next week. The day doesn’t really matter. It’s whom you’re with.

I love these guys!
Happy Valentine’s Day!

More to be thankful for:

22. Take-out Chinese food for dinner

23. Wifi service at the Centra Care clinic

24. Modern medicine

You Care, I Can Tell

Feb11

My kids know whether I really care about something they’re talking about, showing me or doing. If my attention is not completely on them, or if I’m not quite enthusiastic enough with my “I like it!” or “Way to go!” they accuse me of not liking it or not caring about whatever “it” may be.

I have a tendency toward laziness, so if I really don’t have a genuine concern or care for someone, then it’s easy for me not to do something about their need or pain. And I can tend toward grumbling about the things I have to do as a wife and mother to take care of my family: more laundry, another meal, more homework to correct.

But if I genuinely care, then all those things should flow out of that caring.

Our theme at school this year has been “Love in Action.” “And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21 NIV84).

Helping a friend reroof his house.

Taking care of a friend’s kids when they are delayed getting to school to pick them up.

Taking another friend’s son back up to his high school campus to pick up his clarinet that he left there, because he has a competition the next day and your friend is at a hair appointment with her three other children.

Paying undivided attention to your child when she’s talking about something you might not really care about, but you care about her.

These aren’t huge things (well, reroofing a house is huge). But they are showing love. And those for whom you do it can tell.

13. Warm winters

14. Working with good friends so that an all-day Saturday work day isn’t torturous

15. Dinner cooking in the crockpot