Best. Weekend. Ever.

Sometimes I feel really alone. I feel like I don't have many people who share my values or that I can talk to. I feel like I'd rather just stay in then go out and pretend to be something I'm not. Then I have a weekend like this one, and perspective comes flooding back in. I have some of the best friends with the best values and best hearts on this planet, and I am so blessed.

On Friday afternoon me, Col, and Sar drove to downtown Indy to pick up our Chicago friends Julie, Annie, and Sarah who would be staying at my house for the whole weekend. The good times started from the second we saw each other, and we left the rest of the MegaBus crowd gawking as we screamed and ran and hugged and laughed and loved each other. We got in the car for the beginning of what was sure to be a beautiful weekend.

Spending time with camp friends proves over and over again to be the best times of my life. I get to be honest and fun and laugh a whole lot and cry and do weird things and just be me. Even when I am the lighting bolt version of myself, they love me. And for those reasons these girls who I spent two weeks with in the Longhouse at Camp Tecumseh have become some of my very best friends. Though the visits are few and far between, each time we see each other feels like no time has passed. We never stop loving, never stop caring, and never stop trying to be the best friends we can to each other. Its amazing to me. God's grace and love radiates through each one of them, and I couldn't ask for better people to share my life and my journey with Christ with. They rock!

Some highlights of this weekend included:
The Game of Things (play it, seriously.)

Singing REALLY loud every time we were in the car

Sar-car laughing at Applebee's

seeing Annie D. in Plainfield and finally finishing out Christmas craft exchange

teaching everyone how to Bernie in the 96th St. Steakburger parking lot

sitting in a circle and coloring special things

reading Cold Tangerines out loud to them several times

having a snow-filled photo shoot with Sarah Briggs

card board confession air-matress devotions

Super Bowl Sunday Sundaes at Huddles with the whole crew

and getting to spend time with some of the most special people I know.

I pray that as each of us returns to our normal lives and daily routines, that we can remember we are loved. This weekend may be over, but our friendships continue to grow and grow as the time passes. Knowing that its possible to maintain relationships with people hundreds of miles away gives me hope. It gives me strength to continue living my life well. And it gives me faith that we have a God who loves us enough to put these relationships in our lives.