Comfort and Joy

I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will
give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:13

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Before we left...

We have been so blessed by wonderful friendships over the years.  Friends who have held us up when we couldn't hold ourselves up.  Friends who have loved us in the best of times and the worst of times.  Friends who have rejoiced with us and weeped with us.

Our last few weeks in Memphis we spent time saying goodbye to good friends that we knew we would miss terribly while in Boston. My sweet girlfriends threw me a going away/surprise early birthday party. It was such a fun night!
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This sweet friend has definitely held me up when I didn't think I could hold myself up.
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Austin saying goodbye to his best buddy Whit.
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By far the hardest ones to say goodbye to were the Robinsons.  They won't be in Memphis when we return and that is hard for me to stomach.  They moved to Knoxville where Scout accepted a wonderful job.  We have been close friends for many years.  We did Medical School together, they did residency in Cincinnati but we stayed close, and then the Lord blessed us by allowing them to do a Fellowship in Memphis for 2 years.  They bought a house down the street from us and we loved watching their daughters grow up.  My boys will miss them terribly and as I sit here with tears coming down my face, I will miss them terribly.  I know this sounds corny but Rebecca is like a sister to me.  She is not afraid to tell me what I need to hear while still loving me.  She really knows me and that is hard to come by in this world.
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I have found that after losing Forrest, I don't really care for surface friendships anymore.  I want more...that is hard for some people and I have seen friends drift away because they couldn't give more than the surface but that is what my heart longs for.  I sometimes make people feel uncomfortable because I ask too much and am too real.  I long to know someone well and for someone to know me well.  Life is too short to continue where you only ask, "How are you?" and only give/get the answer fine.  Are we really just fine...aren't we more than/less than fine.  Thankfully God has blessed me with some wonderful friends who say more than just fine.  They give me real and for that..I am blessed!

Wow...that was deep and wordy for me to put on my blog for the world to see but that is how I feel =)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi...I stumbled upon your blog tonight from the Harrison family blog and noticed you just moved to Boston. Iam on the south shore of Mass. Your boys are precious. Hope you are enjoying Boston and are settling right in :0)

Casey Cockrum said...

exactly what i needed to read today...thanks for talking with me this morning.

Emilee Odette Garrett said...

What an awesome reminder of how important it is to be real in our relationships. I'm honored to call you my friend. Blessed and honored and so very lucky. You are an inspiration.