Keeping It Real, Friends

Confession #1:  We love Phineas and Ferb so much that our daughter has a stuffed Perry the Platypus in her toy collection and has special dance moves she performs during the theme song. She is not quite 2 years old. We love cartoons. 

Confession #2: I don't like the feeling of licking a wooden popsicle stick. It freaks me out.  

Confession #3: If I won the lottery  I would probably spend way to much money on fancy cheese, ice cream, and Thai food. I would travel the world with my husband and baby and see all the wonders of the world. I would try to make a difference in people's lives. 

Confession #4: At least one room in my house is a mess most days and should have caution tape blocking the doorway, so as to prevent any injuries from occurring to the people that would enter.

All this randomness is meant to give you a window into my world. The world of a woman, wife, momma, daughter, friend, who loves her family, friends, food, and traveling the world. I far from perfect. I have been known to lose my temper, to snort when I laugh, and to dance around the house like a crazy woman when I feel carefree and zany. Our home is one filled with love and laughter, messes and sometimes tears. We are real people with real joys and pains. 

I have often struggled with making new friends when we move to a new place. We have moved across state lines a couple of times during our marriage. Each time there are triumphs and challenges. The problem that continues to trouble me with each move is the search for true friendships. Not the emotionally distant, "I'm fine. How are you?" kind, but the "I am real and I really want to know you." kind. I think women have a tendency to put on a show or a front for people. We want to have it altogether all the time and for our lives to look like we all just stepped out of Anthropologie or J. Crew with beautiful light surrounding us and flowers in our hair. 

Real Life is Like A Crying Baby Some Days

I love Anthropologie and J. Crew. Don't get me wrong. But that is not what my everyday life looks like. It looks messy. It looks fun. It looks boring some days but it is real and it is the one God gave me to live today. I should add that I have been blessed to have met so many genuine people through our church in our new town over the past few months. I have never felt so cared for by people who barely know me after a move across state lines. That said, I think all of us ladies worldwide should take a look at our lives and choose to be real with each other. Such freedom comes with honesty and openness! Who knows what kind of amazing friendships could be in store for us when we choose to open our lives up to people around us. When we choose to put others first and invest in lives of the lonely and forgotten, the tired and distressed women around us. Friendship is a gift. Let's rediscover it's beauty together by being sincerely interested in each other's problems and successes. Sincerity breeds freedom and joy!

Psalm 133:1

How good and pleasant it is when brother (and sisters) live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down on the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.