Celebration Friday (with a sprinkle of f a n c y)

Today I pause to celebrate f r i e n d s.

These gals, Elizabeth (left) and Lindsay (middle), are not just friends they are soul sisters. Sacred companions. Life-givers. Truth tellers. Image-bearers. Besties.

Sometimes when were together I pause and think to myself, how did our relationship get here?  I mean it. What ingredients have lead to this feast?

We are not perfect. I have let them down and disappointed and vice versa. But somehow the offering of our stories, the history of where we've been and where we long to go, the shared desire to tell a good story with our lives through our life in Christ, has lead to something completely sacred. Human, yes. But incarnational.  You encounter Christ's life among us.

B e a u t i f u l.

When we are together I become more settled into my person. A truer version of myself. And when I drive off, bearing the dreaded 405/101 FWY drive, I notice I feel a little lighter, truer, a better version of myself than the gal who arrived.

Isn't that how Christ intended it? That the living out and reflecting back this gospel life together would birth life? Radiate Christ among us?

And you know what's been such a sweet addition?  Kyle.  Ms. Lindsay Lou got married a year and a half ago, and I have loved watching her embrace being a wife. Kyle is a gift blessing us with his masculine presence and nature when we're together.

This New Years gathering was such a gift. A celebration of friendship. That no matter the distance, the limited time spent living in different cities, we pick right back up. 

This table is more than a table, it is a symbol of a shared life together--hopes, anguish, triumphs, grief, nows and not yets. Each of us passing the gifts, the provisions, the sacrifices round and round the table, "Share this with me. Enjoy." 

The two empty spaces still a tender place of longing and waiting, wondering who will fill those spaces? This dinner table another altar of longing and anguish (How long Oh Lord?). But also the feasting spot of trust, provision and daily bread, what's before us is enough for today.

And so we gathered, we shared, we laughed, we competed (of course, games bring it out in us!), and we were reminded that life is a journey and our relationships, the longevity and the new additions, a sacred gift.

Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.

So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherishand confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.

And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,

Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching (Hebrew 10:23-25 AMP).

p.s. Here's a little more s p a r k l e from the Holidays....my little sister Lisa (4 months prego) and me all fancy for Christmas Eve. 

Fa la la...how I love getting to dress up for special occasions!