I’ve had an especially great week visiting with friends. I had dinner with a group of girls on Monday night. We go all the way back to junior high school. In case you’re wondering- that’s a really long time in our case. We try to get together every couple of months or so to visit but, like everything else, that pattern had been interrupted. We met at the restaurant which seemed to be busy- much more than I’d seen it since all the Covid stuff hit. There was a buzz of life in the air. Several people came in that we all knew and we spoke with them. I got the warmest feeling with familiar faces surrounding me and passing by our table. It felt like something so lovely that had been missing was coming back to us. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that hard. Maybe it was because we were so hungry to do something normal. Maybe we were just tickled to see each other. Whatever it was, we laughed like we were still those junior high school girls and I came home feeling refreshed and recharged. 

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a group of friends as a send off for one of us who’s relocating to another town. We went to the nearby town of Laurel where the HGTV show, Hometown, is filmed and spent the day eating and shopping. For a Wednesday, the little town was bustling. There seemed to be a sense of normalcy blowing around in the spring wind. Restaurants were crowded. Shops were busy. The weather was perfect. Like the blooming trees and singing birds, it just felt like I could see everything good coming back to life after such a long year. We did a lot of catching up as we’d missed so much over the last months. We’ve been through a lot together. We filled our nests together and then watched them empty out again. Time moves on and seasons change and we were just enjoying each other’s company, while wishing our friend all God’s best as she moves along to another place for another season. We left our time feeling lighter and brighter just by having been together. 

The one thing that stuck in my mind about my two visits this week was what they had in common. At the end of each one, everyone commented along the same lines. “I really needed this” or “This did me so much good.” 

Life can be a hard thing, you know. It’s been especially hard for everyone over the last year. We’ve been in a cold and dreary season. One like no other, for sure. We may have felt like my spunky little plant out on the back porch. Like we were forgotten and left out in the cold- feeling alone to deal with so many adverse conditions of a long season. But, now we can feel hope blowing in with a new season coming and we’re so ready to come together again and bloom. Like my neglected plant, the Good Lord sustained us through it all and now we’re giddy that the sweetness of life is budding again. There’s nothing in the virtual world that can warm the soul like sitting across the table from a friend. Nothing that technology can offer can lift the spirit like looking into the eyes of people you love. There’s no form of social media that can replicate the healing power of group laughter- the kind that comes from deep down. 

We need each other. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that. I hope just as soon as it’s possible that you can have some girl time with your friends. It does a body good. 

“Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy.” Proverbs 27:9

Happy Weekend! 

JONI