Show Me Your Friends

Some people may have heard me say, “Show me your friends and I will show you what you are;” a quote from my mother intended to keep me away from jerks in middle school. I can only believe my mother’s wisdom to be true because her many other Lena-isms are, such as “if it is meant to be,” and “it’s like a tundra out there.” But seriously, if my friends and my family are what I am, then I must be pretty extraordinary. Just when I think I cannot take one more thing, the phone rings, an email pops up, a card arrives, or a package leans against our temporary apartment door. Just when I could not feel further from home, a force pulls me back in. I know how much we are being thought about and prayed for because I can feel it. It pulls me out of bed each morning and helps me to fall asleep at night. We have heard people say that if something like this were to happen to anyone that we are the two that would deal with it the best. Maybe that’s true. But if it is, it is because we feel like we are not handling it alone.