A Weekend Blessing

I have lots of good pictures from the weekend at home on my computer. Those will come in a post later today. The weekend was exhausting, but great. If you missed it- my friends Matt and Alisse got married! I'm so delighted for them. Go wish them congratulations!

I loved seeing so many friends (and their families!), and picking up with them where I last left off. It was a delight. I have friends, both close to home and scattered around the country, in many different places in life. Some are parents, some are not. Some have dogs, some have cats, some have turtles. Some are married, some are not. Some live in houses, some live in apartments. Some live on farms, some live in the city, some live in third-world countries. All sorts of people. Some work in offices, some work in schools, some work at home, some are in graduate school. I love hearing of all their far-flung adventures, as different as they are from our own sometimes.

Last week, I was feeling alone and discouraged, realizing that, of all the people I knew, I had no friends in my place in life (a wife happily working full-time in an office). I had no peer to share with. I felt I must be doing something wrong, if everyone who I hang out with is choosing a different path. This nagged at me most of last week, as it does periodically. It was such a joy and encouragement and, in a way, a relief, to run into friends I've known since before my senior year of high school, and hear that they are in the same place we are. As we reconnected, I learned that their story of the last couple years sounds suspiciously like ours. They graduated & got married the same summer we did. They just bought a house. They like their jobs, both working in offices in a medium-sized city. They've found a church home. They've added a big dog to their family (or, in their case, two!) with no immediate plans for kids. They're settling in an area, and are very content in their current life stage. Hearing that I'm not alone in my life stage made me feel less crazy. Maybe I am OK.

I told my friends that their story was a blessing to me, after a week where I had been discouraged. It was a simple blessing, for sure, but a reminder that God doesn't just dismiss my silly worries and insecurities, but instead cares deeply about me. He heard me and reassured me that He has me at this life stage for a reason, even as he has most of my friends at different life stages. God is good.