(Insert Steven Curtis Chapman Song Here.)

If you're a regular lurker to this little blog o'mine, surely by now you've figure out that I can ramble from here to Topeka about pretty much everything that doesn't amount to anything. What can I say - it's a gift. I've been "mentally writing" this post in my mind for about a week now. I try not to do this too often with this blog because I want my words to be as unscripted as possible. However this time I want to use just the right words. Yet I'm struggling. But tonight I realized that part of why I'm struggling is that words are one-dimensional. Flat. Sure they create meaning and we use imagery and blah blah blah. [Have I mentioned that 2 of my 3 C's in college were English 1101 and English 1102? Now I'm certain that the Blogger police will revoke my writing privileges upon reading this news so it's been nice knowing you people.] But how in the world can words properly summarize people and relationships between people who are three-dimensional? It just doesn't seem possible. So here's my attempt at the impossible...

Last Sunday afternoon I arrived at Suzanna's mom and dad's house for our scheduled lunch and the driveway was full... of minivans and other vehicles that were familiar. [Of course I immediately recognized them as belonging to my friends. I'm the girl who remembers that the Career Counselor at NGCSU drove a white Honda Accord...Just call me Rainwoman.] Now I should say that I was a little tipped off that something more than just lunch with Suz was going down because about 45 minutes earlier I had received a voicemail from Kat which began with "Hi HP, I guess you're getting ready for your party...", but I had no idea that Maggie would be there too (she was going with her family to have lunch for her mother-in-law's birthday)...or Beth (I just saw her on Monday)...or Angel (she has 3 kids under 4 and well, if I had 3 kids under 4 I would be doing good to manage to brush my teeth each day. Driving to Athens on a rainy, cold, yucky Sunday afternoon would be a feat too large). Oh the happiness that my heart felt though to know that as soon as I walked through those doors, I would be surrounded by some of my favorite people in the world. All in one room! It was almost too much for me to handle. I'm feeling verklempt now just thinking about it. [If only Linda Richman had been there too...]

When looking at the picture above, to the unknowing eye, I'm sure that it seems like what it is: A snapshot of a group of gals who happen to be super cute and don't look a day over 25. Perhaps they went to college together. Maybe they all owned more lion and ladybug paraphernalia than the law should allow at one point in time. All of these things are true, but there's so much more to this picture. There's history. About 10 years worth now. There are stories. Far too many to tell. There are laughs and tears. The time our sophomore year when I knocked on Angel and Maggie's door during Rush in a panic because I washed my face with self-tanner. There are ups and downs. The time that I threatened to make Suz and Beth sit on the aerobed together and hold hands because they were in a silly little spat. There are shared learning experiences. The time that I learned not to let Kat wax my eyebrows in her dorm room.

I love this picture for many reasons. You see, while we all have a lot in common, it's very rare to have this combination of people in the same picture. It's not like we were a group if 6 BFF's all throughout college and beyond. There's actually a couple of combinations of groups combined in this picture. The collective Beth and Suzanna. The Singles Club. The "AMP" of KAMP [if only Katie had not been off leading young girls to the Lord on Sunday that group would have been complete] Sure, the relationships have changed over the years, but the older I get the more I understand that is just the reality of life. I believe that sometimes people are in our lives at a specific time for a specific reason. Others are in our lives forever. There are others who are always in our lives but just on a different level. When I look at this picture, it enables me to remember the history, the stories, the laughs and tears, the ups and downs, the learning experiences that I have shared with each and every one of them. And while many of them are the same, there are differences too. That's the thing about friendships that I absolutely love. The different roles we play in each other's lives. Finally when I look at this picture, I am humbled. I never really understood what true friendship looked like until college. These women have helped to shape me into person I am and who I hope to become. They have loved me when I made dumb decisions. They have prayed for me when my little world was rocked. They have eaten with me when only cookie dough would make it better. They have listened to me when I needed to talk. They have talked when I needed to listen. They have encouraged me when I needed a confidence boost. They have humored me when I needed to be humored. They have laughed with me when I needed to lighten up a bit. And even more remarkable...they do all these things even today and I know that they will tomorrow too. My cup runneth over.