On friendship (and weddings).

sophomore year formal...#typical

In my far-gone college days, I found these three women. There names are Juliann, Emily, and Vanassa. We all found each other in very different ways, on different timelines and as different people, but find each other we did.

Juliann.

Emily.

Vanassa.

Somewhere along the line there was an inside joke and someone made up the word "boodle" and that transitioned into a nickname and now here we are, 7 years later, and we're still the Boodles. These three women have blessed my life in ways I could never put to words. I have been blessed beyond measure by their friendship.

The Boodles.  So much love!

In the past five weeks, two of the boodles have gotten married! On June 9, Emily got married in San Antonio in an incredibly beautiful and joyful ceremony.

 

 

Such a beautiful bride!!

And then, this past weekend Juliann got married in Santa Barbara in another incredibly beautiful and joyful ceremony.

Another beautiful bride!

I can't give words to how grateful and honored I feel to have been a part of these two celebrations. They were vastly different but there was one fundamental similarity - they were ceremonies of praise and promise...praise to the Father who brought these couples together and ordained the institution of marriage in the first place, and promise to love in a way that represents the father who first loved us and who does so perfectly.

 

Bridesmaids :)

It's kind of incredible how four girls who met at 18 can grow up into women, live in four different states, be in four different relationship stages, and have four completely separate lives and yet still be connected in the deepest of ways.  What a gift from our Father!

So blessed.

happy birthday, 'Merica!

I just spent 'Merica's birthday in the mountains with my family...I've been blessed beyond measure.

There's something about riding in the backseat of the car.  Dad driving, mom sleeping in the front seat, dog sleeping in the back and me watching the world go by outside the window....I feel safe.  I feel at home.  I feel like, just for a minute, everything is right in the world.

...I've been blessed beyond measure.

(thank God.)

goodness and freedom.

Oh my goodness.

It's been over a year.  Over a year since I've been here.

Who can say what it is that inspires a person to write?  It's something that gets into your soul.  There are words that rumble around in the depth of you, waiting to be set free.  Sometimes the words catch you by surprise - they set free a truth you didn't even know was buried inside you.  And then...there are times of silence.  There are times when the words abandon you and you learn to find those truths in other ways.  Lately has been a time of silence.

But (without any warning whatsoever) the words are back.

I feel them in my soul, in my heart, itching in the ends of my fingertips.  They beg me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and set them free. There are stories to be told - stories of laughter inspired by the little smiles and inquisitive minds that make up my every day, stories of love and weddings (not my own, but beautiful nonetheless), stories of struggles and triumphs, stories of sorrow and hope.

But most of all, there is the story.  It's the story older than time itself, the one that is told and re-told in my own life daily.  It's the story of Love itself.  Love that overwhelms my soul.

And those stories will be told in good time.  But for today - this quiet, cloudy morning - this is all that needs to be said: God is good.  All the time, God is good.

(He is goodness itself and He has set me free.)

"Truth be known, you’re not alone

Your aching bones will find a home

In the place where God he sets us free"

                                             ~ "Good Friday" by Josh Garrels