Missing our Best Friends!

If you have a great friend in your life, you know that there isn't much that will change how you feel about that person. Whether you are close or far away, whether you talk often or every once in a while, or even if you have a disagreement. God has blessed us with many wonderful friends who are in our hearts everyday. Even though we don't talk to these friends as often anymore, they are still a tremendous blessings to us. Over the past 4 years or so, one relationship has blossomed more than almost any other...I never anticipated this relationship to grow so much because we really struggled to get along for a good portion of our teenage years. I'm talking about my relationship with my sister Jessi.    As I said before, we did NOT get along. We are very close in age (16 months apart), therefore we were just one grade apart in school. You name it, we fought about it...boys, clothes, food, space, etc. We are the same as we are different, so we always got on each others nerves. When I got married, I didn't have much hope that our relationship would grow into much more than just being related by blood, especially after we moved 8 hours away for a new job. It didn't help things when Jessi married her husband, Jack, who I was not too sure of at the time...I didn't really know him at all. If you know me, you know that I said what was on my mind when I found out they were getting married...that did not go over well! :)

Jessi and Jack's rehearsal dinner

But God has a sense of humor and a way of healing broken relationships. A few years after we moved south, we found out that, even though Jessi and Jack had applied for jobs all up and down the east coast, they both landed jobs in the exact same city where Cole and I were working! What?!? I was excited, but nervous too. We were definitely closer than we had been in previous years, but we still weren't what I would call the best of friends. I just wasn't sure what to expect of our relationship when they moved there.

Well, fast forward several years and I can honestly say that Jessi and Jack have become our best friends. We were with them all the time back home. We were together almost every weekend and oftentimes squeezed in weeknight runs to see each other...usually to Dairy Queen (it was almost exactly in the middle between our houses). Jessi and I did everything together...going to the gym, going to church, shopping, cooking/eating, playing with the boys, etc. There is a huge hole without her here! 

Just after Cameron was born

Football season

Dairy Queen!

We can count of Jessi and Jack for anything and everything. They have seen us through disappointments, struggles, joys, excitement, a miscarriage, the births of our babies, and everything else in between. They are basically second parents to our boys and, although Harrison doesn't know them as well, the boys absolutely love them!

At the hospital when Harrison was born

Color Run

Of course we FaceTime pretty much every weekend now that we're in Gent, but it's not the same. I miss sitting outside grilling, laughing, and playing with the boys. I already miss football season and laying around all day watching games and eating and eating and eating. I miss celebrating the boys' milestones and birthdays with ice cream cake. I miss summer nights making smores and playing games late at night. We trust them, we love them. and we miss them tremendously!!! There is nothing like being near the people you care about the most. Did I mention that I miss them?!

Thankfully, Jessi and Jack are coming to see us in a little over a month and will be here for a couple weeks. I CANNOT WAIT!!!! Even though we are far away and don't get to see or talk to them as often, they are still our best friends. Although none of us know what God has in store for our lives as we live apart, I am so thankful for the restoration and healing that has occurred in our relationship and the tremendous blessing that has come from that. But today, I am really missing our best friends...