Make new friends, but keep the old...

The Girls Scouts definitely had it right. These past couple weeks have reminded me how precious my old friends are to me. Last week my sweet buddy Margot surprised me, took a day away from her family on their vacation, and drove down from Hilton Head to see me. We had such a great time catching up, laughing, and hanging out. Margot is my friend who is crazy talented and smart. She has a great website, too, that you should check out: http://www.margotstarbuck.com/. I met her in Durham when her husband came to be the associate pastor at our church. She and I lead a Bible Study for high school girls and we called ourselves the Freshmores. It was one of the best things about my time in Durham. Those girls were really a pure joy in our lives, and having the opportunity to lead alongside a dear friend was a treat. So Margot came and caught me up on the Freshmores, the goings on in Durham, and the lovely craziness of her sweet family. Then she listened as I shared some of my dreams with her...you know, the un-mommy things that are on my heart. She is such a cheerleader and encourager, and she also helped me with some practical ways to get the ball rolling on some of the things I want to do. I am so grateful for her friendship.


My time with Margot made me miss those Freshmore girls like crazy! And lucky for me, one of them came to visit this week! The McSwain girls and their mom, Susan, came to visit on Thursday. I'm not sure I can describe what it was like to have them show up at my door. It just felt like home. Susan was my family while I was in Durham. She watched Maggie early on while I worked at the Young Life office. She had us over all the time for dinners, lunches, desserts. She opened her home and her heart to me and I feel really privileged. Susan's oldest daughter, Emily, was in my Bible study and she just finished her first year at Bucknell. It's crazy to see someone you've known since they were twelve turn into such a woman!

We spent two days together playing, going to the beach, hitting the pool, and taking care of kiddos. Then on Friday Susan told me she wanted to spend the night at our house with her girls and my girls and let me and Ian stay in their hotel room for the night. Wooo hooo! We all had dinner together and then Ian and I hit the road! We had a great date and we slept in until 10 am...heavenly! It was the first time Ian and I had been away overnight since before the twins were born. Wow.

I mean, who would do that? Who would offer to keep your kids and give you a free night away when they have driven 8 hours to visit you on their vacation? Susan McSwain, that's who. Susan, Emily, Caroline and Malissa - y'all are so great. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Just a sidenote...the movie, Hancock, is really not worth the time or money, which makes me so sad because I love the Fresh Prince.