Fifteen years ago, our families met at the end of a driveway.
I had three children 5 and under and there were still boxes to be unpacked in my living room. Our family had made a cross-country drive from Georgia to Washington, lived in an apartment for 6 months, and was finally settling in to a home of our own.
She had one toddler son outside and had just learned there was another on the way. Most of her life had been spent in Washington, and she had gotten married just a few weeks after the birth of my second son.
It was an unlikely pairing, looking back. But God doesn’t need more than a few threads to weave together the tapestry of an enduring friendship. My youngest was the age of her oldest. It was enough. We bonded over babies and meal planning and being a wife and mother. We walked our dogs (and kids) together, filled countless kiddie pools, and served more bowls of macaroni and cheese over the course of those years than I can even begin to count. We’ve walked through marital highs and lows, crippling bouts of depression, and years of homeschooling that have been so very, very, good… and years of homeschooling that have been so very, very bad.
And, of course, we have had babies. Lots of babies.
On Monday, we took our 16 year-old young men college touring at Bryan College. Those baby boys who were our initial spark of friendship are now nearly grown men, and readying themselves to launch. The two of them them together— so similar to the brand-new toddlers they were and yet so different at the same time— fills my heart every time. I can’t see them together and not remember the hours of dress up, the outrageously messy cookie baking sessions, the two of them fitting together on a small sled to rocket down a hill. But then I see clearly the now, and I am overcome. These boys we have prayed for and cried over and laughed with? They now take steps that out pace us, and toss around dreams like engineering school and the Air Force as if they weren’t sitting on a couch just yesterday sharing a bowl of popcorn and watching yet another episode of “There Goes a Truck.”
And us? We’re not the super cute new Mommas anymore, but since we represent a combined total of 17 kids, I think we get a little grace. Also, my sweet best friend is once again baking a new beautiful arrow for God’s glory. So while we weren’t wearing toddlers in Ergos on campus, at least some things haven’t changed.
I’m so glad for driveways. ️I’m so glad for stepping out of comfort zones, for taking a chance and saying hello, and for being totally, utterly transparent and vulnerable with someone. I’m so blessed to have a person who, no matter the miles, is my best friend. I hope you have one, too.