I remember one of the first conversations I had with Brooke. It was during the first 6 months of being back in the US. I told her how I would run out of church as soon as it was over and sit in the car and wait for my social butterfly husband to get finished chatting with everyone so we could leave! I wasn't ready to make friends yet. I was often sobbing after church was over and in no kind of emotional state to talk to strangers. It seemed the emotions of our move and all we were going through just spilled over every time I sang or listened to a sermon. I was the crying girl who left church ASAP for a good 9 months. And Brooke, who had just moved from Pennsylvania told me she did the same thing! We joked that we should hang out in the parking lot while we waited on our hubbies...and thus our friendship began.
God knew I needed a parking lot friend. A friend who was experiencing the same transition I was. A friend who was lonely, like me. A friend who, like me, was feeling insecure in a new environment, a new state, a new church, a new social network to navigate, a new everything. A friend who had children the same age as mine. A friend who lives just minutes from the house we bought. A friend who, like me, needed a friend. And two years into our friendship, God continues to bless our family through them. (And we both actually enjoy staying after church to meet people now!)
Our families play together quite often but this week was the first time we've done a kid swap. EG went to Brooke's for time with her girls and Nathan came to us. Jack and Nathan are super close in age and play really well together. Nathan is silly and incredibly gregarious, like his mama! So grateful for this family.
God is a provider...the giver of all good things.
