fellowship

I woke up to this sight on the kitchen counter:

So many dishes again?! And then I remembered last night and smiled, and was thankful for the mess on my counter:

Although it had been a long week, Brent and I had really been wanting to hang out with some of our new friends, Shane and Meagan, and so we called them up on Friday, and even with the late notice they were happy to come over for supper. We planned on watching a movie and playing Cranium, however, after supper we ended up sitting at the table until about 8:30 just talking. Shane got to talking about his passion for studying WWII, Meagan talked about a dessert she makes, and at one point I even pulled a book off the shelf to read a paragraph to everyone. It was just like I was home [what with the history, and the food talk, and the book reading...and the endless sitting at a dinner table even after the meal has long been eaten!]

So after filling chicken parmesean and pasta and apples and, of course, apple dip, Meagan and I made some tea and talked and talked and shared wedding pictures, while Brent and Shane messed around with his guitar.When Brent and Shane came back in the living room, we had planned on popping in the movie. Instead, all four of us sat down on the couch and talked and laughed for hours until we realized it was 1 o'clock in the morning! Needless to say, we never got around to the movie, let alone playing Cranium. At one point during our conversation we were literally laughing so hard we were crying. It was such a blessing to find some friends to spend a great evening of fellowship with. They both grew up in a small town in Indiana, and so we all appreciated each other's ability to relate to the small town life [some people just don't understand!!]

Sometimes when you are trying to find new friends, everything can seem so manufactured. You force conversation and then go to a movie so the experience is less intruding. But last night Brent and I were reminded of how real friends come about: sharing life's stories and a dinner table and losing track of time. At the end of the movie "Into the Wild," the main character comes to the realization that "happiness is only real when it's shared." We had both experienced this in college, and had been aching for it ever since.

The Lord is faithful.