sweet coffee, sweet friends, sweet relief*

"Monday Monday..."

there's an old song that starts out that way, and the melody is running through my head right now...

This weekend was really good for my heart. Even though the work days were long, the company was good, and the time I spent after work was amazing. As soon as I got off work Saturday I hurried over to Cornerstone to meet Jill and Jordyn for a girls night. When I got there I saw cars in the parking lot, which didn't really surprise me, because there are always cars there... what DID surprise me, was that the car I parked in front of had two kids smoking inside of it! I'm used to kids smoking, and I used to people smoking, it was just really weird to me that there were kids sitting in a car smoking at 715 on a Saturday night in front of our church. But it didn't take long before everything started to make sense, I walked in to find super loud music with too much bass, kids who were tattoo-ed, pierced, wearing tight jeans with flat ironed hair and clothes that looked and smelled like they hadn't been washed... for about a week. It was a scene show! Haha! I found the girls sitting at a table together and we talked for a while before we decided where to go. We ended up at Cracker Barrel with a creepy waiter who couldn't decide who to flirt with, so he flirted with all of us-- very unsuccessfully. But the conversation was great, and it felt so good to be together again. Jordyn is really sweet and carefree and even though I haven't spent very much time with her, she's very dear to me. The two of them soothed my heart without even knowing it and I'm so grateful that I got to spend the whole night with them laughing and talking.

After dinner we spent some time in Target finding Jill some hip prego jeans. Jordyn picked out the winner, and we spent the rest of the time looking through all the new bags and jewelry they have for spring. We weren't done hanging out yet, so we decided to head over to Starbucks where we shared two huge coffees on a big comfy couch. I really hope that we get to spend more time together like that, because truthfully I didn't want it to end... I really am blessed with the very best people in my life. The more time I spend with them the more time I want to find for them to fit into my life. The stories and the experiences, the dreams and the talent, and God's love pouring out into all of our lives is so reassuring, and it gives me a renewed sense of hope and purpose... just over coffee.

Sunday night was very similar-- Filled with love and laughs and a lot of hugs. Even though things are hard financially right now, I know that coming home, and being a part of Cornerstone is where we belong. Since Jordan isn't working right now we have the opportunity to get more involved in groups, and this week we're going to start going to Ryan and Mary's for small group again, as often as we can, and we're both going to be starting Cornerstone University on Thursdays. I love everyone there so much... and if you were there on Sunday night, thank you for being there. Thank you for hugging me and Jordan-- for spending time with us, offering ideas, and help and prayers. You've turned around this bad situation and made us realize that good IS going to come out of it and you helped give Jordan a renewed sense of self... Thank you for that.

By the way, over the next two days, Jordan has two interviews. Both are good jobs, but one is geared towards helping people who are struggling financially, and Jordan is very excited about that interview. He really has a heart for helping people and I hope they see that in him during the interview. So please continue praying for him, and I'll let you know more as soon as I can.

I got to hold Jonah Sunday night too. A lot of people know that Jordan and I probably aren't going to have kids, and there are a lot of reasons for that decision... but what many people don't know is that before Sunday night, I'd only held 4 babies before in my life. Just 4... Jonah was the 5.
I've held my sister, a little girl named Grace, Jaxon, Leland, and Jonah... And it meant so much for me to be able to hold him. He was a perfect little warm ball of sweet smells and soft skin. Even though he was really tired and fighting sleep, he was still sweet and only fussed a few times. I loved all 10 minutes.

I've always been afraid to ask to hold babies, especially when they're as tiny as Jonah, or Jax the first time I got to hold him... I think I'm afraid I'm going to hurt them, or that they won't like me, or that their parents will say no. I don't know, either way I always avoid holding them and I just watch other people from a distance. I've held a couple of toddlers, but it's different. My joints are really weak so I can't hold anyone over 20 pounds for very long, so I usually just ask for hugs or high fives.

Hopefully when Annie, Elise and Jill have their new babies I'll be a little braver and ask to hold them too.