Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Home to Me

I don't know if you will remember, but I once wrote a post called In It With You. After writing it, I received a lot of emails and there seemed to be a big emotional response to it. I talked about one of my dearest friends who had moved across a continent and ocean away and how hard her leaving had been for me. I shared how surprised I had been at my own extremely emotional ( ex. very pregnant lady sobbing in the shower) response to her move. Well, that friend, much to my pure delight, was just here for a visit.


Can I tell you that when we got together, along with some of our other close friends, that it was just like she had never left? It seemed more like we had all just gotten busy and hadn't made the effort to spend time together.

I love it that I have friends who are home to me.

The timing of her visit was not lost on me. It was in the midst of some very difficult circumstances. She is one of the friends in my life who sees exactly what is going on with me and really listens. I am convinced it is one of her giftings. Having her here to listen and encourage me was huge! By the way, let me introduce you to her- this is Krista!


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We have a picture like this of the two of us twenty years ago.


This is not it!

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Here, we are giggling because we are trying to pose our faces so they look thinner. I once heard that when you take a picture, you should stick your neck out like a turtle because pictures are not three dimensional so people won't be able to tell that you are being like a turtle. Krista was told by a model friend that you should always put your chin down a little bit . Can you tell we are trying to stick our necks out and put our chins down at the same time? It is not easy.

I know you are trying it right now.
Don't worry, I'll wait!


Krista gave me permission to tell you a little of her story. She is married to Buddy, who is one of the best people I know. I'm not just saying that because he reads my blog either. They have been friends since elementary school. Sooo cute! When I was pregnant with Mister Luke, Krista was pregnant too and we were so excited that we would have babies at the same time. But, God had a different plan. She now has two beautiful children that the Lord brought to her and Buddy through adoption.

She and Buddy adopted a precious boy with Down's Syndrome and then had the added delight of adopting his biological sister who was a baby at the time. They were unaware of this little girls existence when they received their son. There is so much to this story that I think Krista and Buddy should write the whole thing out on their blog because it is such an encouraging story. Nudge, nudge!

But, one little memory I have to share was at the court date of the finalization of their son's adoption. It was in family court where they usually see children taken away from parents. The judge spoke about how happy she was to be a part of his adoption and as she announced his full name with the Brewer last name, Buddy lifted this sweet smiling boy above his head and sobbed in complete joy. I looked around through tears and the judge, the social workers and all of the lawyers had tears streaming down their faces. It is one of the most powerful things I have ever witnessed.

These dear friends of mine moved to Hamburg, Germany six months ago as missionaries. To read more of their story, she said that you are welcome to visit their blog.


15 comments:

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

Oh I also heard you should stick your tongue up in the roof of your mouth and it makes your under chin area perk up...

It's rather awkward and fear looking like a duck in the photo.

in my photos, I just smile and ya get what ya get. And it ain't always pretty! lol

Foursons said...

Ya' know- it really does make a difference! I'm gonna do that for EVERY picture now!

Lisa Anne said...

lol I was so trying to do that before I read your call out on your blog. LOL You two look like you could be sisters

JennyMac said...

You both look fabulous! Great photo. And sweet story about your friend.

Sheryl said...

love the story of your frienship. and we have tried those tricks when taking pictures and if it's possible...it just makes me look worse!!

i am going to check out their blog now. sounds like one amazing couple!

A New England Girl said...

You two are SO beautiful! Love these photos.

I too love the friendships that make you feel like home. I have one of those myself, and I look forward to seeing her whenever, no matter how infrequent it now is.

Glad you got to visit with each other! :)

Farmgirl Paints said...

You both are beautiful...whether you stick your necks out and chins down or not:) Love her and her husbands amazing story. Hope you enjoy your visit with them.

I'm off to check out their blog!

Anonymous said...

Hi Brigetta- you've been tagged! Wander on over to my site when you get a chance.

campbell6 said...

I'm not sure how you did it but your post was eerily right on tonight. Just moments before I read it I hung up the phone with one of MY "home" friends. She and her family left 2 weeks ago to be missionaries overseas as well. We have 8 babies 8 and under (they're the kiddos in the picture on my blog title). Anyway, when she drove away a few weeks ago we both bawled like babies - - and we weren't pregnant.:-) Anyhow, tonight is the first real - time conversation we've had since she left. It was SO GOOD to hear her voice but when it was time to say good - bye we did it very quickly to get it over with. And then I clicked on your blog and read your post. It was so encouraging! Such a gift from God...He always knows right where we're at and what we need. Thank you for sharing....you never know who you're going to touch.

Kelly L said...

beautiful post
Love,
Kelly

Anonymous said...

oh stop, your face could not look fat if you tried!!!! You guys look like models to be honest, LOL

I will have to go read your friends blog but not today because i will surely be crying all night long and I need to go to sleep...another day when I feel more stoic..

Anonymous said...

oh stop, your face could not look fat if you tried!!!! You guys look like models to be honest, LOL

I will have to go read your friends blog but not today because i will surely be crying all night long and I need to go to sleep...another day when I feel more stoic..

Helen McGinn said...

Ok, this blog took me from laughing at you knowing that we were all sticking our heads out like turtles to crying-your friends are amazing. I will certainly go read their blog. x

Kathleen said...

sweet, sweet, sweet.

Joybird said...

So I know this is an old post but I saw you and Krista on your link within widget and thought, I miss Krista. I need to read this one again. Oh, that image of Buddy holding Jose over his head, claiming his boy in joy, the courtroom dissolving at the sight of such naked love, it doesn't get old. I misss them and I miss you. Just wanted to tell ya.