Friendship

I have this little ritual during Nicole's nap time where I turn on Focus on the Family's daily broadcast and I work in my kitchen.  It has become something that I look forward to every day and on the days that it doesn't happen, I miss it.  I always learn something while I listen and the quiet productivity I have during the 28 minutes the broadcast airs is equally good for my spirit.  A couple of weeks before we moved, the broadcast was about being in community.  The majority of the message was geared towards stay-at-home moms like me and it resonated deeply with me as I anticipated moving to Texas and needing to find new friends.   I can still remember standing in my Minnesota kitchen, cutting up bell peppers for dinner and hearing the speaker describe the kind of attitude that ignites new friendships.  She explained that when you're the kind of person who walks into a new environment ready and willing to extend friendship to those you meet, you are far more likely to make friends then if you wait for someone to extend friendship to you.

I pondered that advice for a long time and prayed that God would give me the courage and stamina to extend friendship towards the people I meet, despite the vulnerability I feel about being new.  God answered that prayer in a big way when I met my neighbor Stacey.  Our friendship was fast and genuine and continues to be something both of us enjoy.  It is because of that friendship that I am able to walk into new spaces without feeling desperate for a friend.  I've been able to go to story time with Nicole each week at the library and initiate friendly interactions with the other moms, without feeling rejected or disappointed when our conversations don't end in us exchanging phone numbers.  The same has been true in each of the environments Nicole and I frequent here, and I'm incredibly thankful.   I  believe that God does have other friendships in store for me in Texas and I am excited to see where they end up coming from.

In other news, Shawn and I are now officially Texas residents! We registered our cars here and surrendered our Minnesota drivers licenses last week.   In Texas you have to get your vehicles checked for harmful emissions before registering them at a local tax office.  Only after you have done both of those things can you go to the DMV to update your drivers license.  It took some extra planning to navigate the new-to-us system but we got it done and we're both feeling a significant amount of relief for having it checked off our to-do lists.

It means a lot to us that many of you pray for us.  We can feel your prayers surrounding us on a daily basis, which makes this journey feel much less isolating. God is hearing your prayers and He is answering them.  In fact, wee think we found a church to call home!   The church has both Saturday night and Sunday morning services,  the congregation is small and the leadership is humble.  It's not as close to our house as we originally hoped, but the roads to get there are straight forward and familiar which makes getting there achievable for both of us.

Speaking of familiar roads. . . I would like to share that I have not gotten lost since last week.  Shawn has helped me go back to the place I got lost and find alternate routes to use that don't involve so many one-way streets or frontage roads.  I haven't driven over there by myself yet but I am fairly confident that even if I end up getting turned around next time, I will not be desperately lost.   Directions have never been my strong suit but my mom taught me long ago to always go somewhere new with a full tank of gas.  Thanks to that advice I haven't ever found myself in any kind of real trouble.

I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Erica