Spend Yourself {Day 3} :: On friends

We are packing up around here and pulling out. Stripping bed linens and taking group photos, hugging necks ... yes, tearing up a little. These are my people and it's hard to drive away. Cause when you find your people, you just want to "do life together" and it doesn't really feel natural to be apart.

We have spent this week well and I know this is true because I want to go home and get living well. Good friends do this: inspire and encourage, ask about life and then challenge my heart. They help me love this man, they help me see these children, they point me back to Jesus. And I remember why we need real community and I remember why we weren't created to be alone.

This kind of living takes work and it can feel chaotic and messy. Doing life together takes commitment to people and relationships and a willingness to let go of the minors: control and being right and keeping a perfect routine. It requires navigating hard conversations and being a little awkward, deferring to the friend on the right.

Because this is real living, in all of its forms. And, quite honestly, I may need a vacation to recover from my vacation. And that is awesome.