Our good friends, Rick and Rose, were here visiting this past weekend. They were in our Soulmates group when we attended Church of the Open Door about 2 1/2 years ago. Despite living 2 hours away from each other, they still manage to come up the the Brainerd Lakes Area to see us 3-4 times a year. I know they love coming to see us, but I'm sure the great fishing (and the snow this weekend) also has something to do with it.
Anyway, we have such a great time with them! Our weekend was full of strategy games (Rick won most of them, even though I should have won Seafarers of Catan....I'm still a little bitter!), a long walk down to the lake, and a late-night movie. Rick and Brad played WAY TOO MUCH X-BOX, but I guess boys will be boys!
As I was washing the guest bedroom bedding and tidying up the house today, I thought about a little song I sang when I was in elementary school. "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." How true that little song is!
Recently I learned from a friend (and real estate agent) that it takes, on average, three years for women who have moved to the Brainerd Lakes Area to really settle down and feel as if this community is home. Three years! That's a long time to not feel comfortable somewhere. But in my own journey the last 2 1/2 years, I find that statement to be very true. We had a whirlwind summer when we first moved here in July of 04. We went on 3 weeks of missions trips with the youth group, bought a house, had a long year of teaching and getting used to our new church, got pregnant 6 months later, had a daughter just a little over a year after we moved, and I left teaching and became a full-time stay-at-home mom. And even though I feel I now have girl friends here I can call and have play dates with, there is nothing like my old college and Open Door friends from the Cities.
Many times, especially when Sammy was just a baby and I was stuck at home last winter, I wished we were still in the Cities. I knew that at any time I could have called Gianna or Dacia or Megan and they would have come over right away. I didn't have that same relationship with my new friends here. I feel like I've come a long way in growing my new relationships, but no one will even take the place of those dear friends.
"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Today (and in this season of blessings), I am thankful for so many things...especially my old friends and my new ones as well.
2 comments:
I love you, Jenny! You may never have the same kind of relationships like you do with us in Brainerd, but you will have great ones anyway!
You make me smile Gianna! Thanks for brightening my day!
Post a Comment