time.

From my journal, written approximately twenty-three minutes ago:

"God, thank you. Just thank you. Thank you for a laughter and crazy games. Thank you for families that offer their home and food. Thank you for a leadership community that leaves me feeling filled up at the end of every meeting. Thank you for the crisp air of fall pulling into the driveway on Friday night. Thank you for leaves rustling and for hugs with Johanna. Thank you for cups of tea and long talks about three years of friendship; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thank you for the joy and memories that 90's VHS tapes brought into our lives this weekend. Thank you for pancake breakfasts, two days in a row. Thank you for country roads and trips to Caribou. Thank you for the sunshine on our faces Saturday afternoon and for good girl time. Thank you for good food and for a full belly Saturday night. Thank you for family, hilarious moments, and my stubborn grandma. Thank you for real conversations. Thank you for rainy mornings and more road trips. Thank you for Missiodei; for the message about being justified by grace through faith alone. Thank you for accepting me as I am in this moment. Thank you for friends that feel like family gathering around a table. Thank you for chaos and loud moments and laughter. Thank you for moments where we can come together as a house and reflect on the past year, the years ahead, and the moments we're living right now. Thank you for Bethesda; a place of healing. Thank you for the most real prayers - the kind involving both endless praise and tears of thankfulness. Thank you allowing us to demonstrate our theology by dancing crazy with the people we love. Thank you for your presence in all things. Thank you for this night, this weekend, these people, the past year, and the years to come. In every way, thank you."

(scroll down to my playlist, press pause, and listen to this instead)

There's a common theme through everything that happened this weekend: time. We didn't have to hang out after Leadership on Friday. My mom didn't have to bring me lunch on the deck Saturday afternoon. My dad didn't have to make my favorite meal Saturday night. They didn't have to buy me birthday gifts. We didn't have to sit in the hot tub or go out to breakfast. My roommates didn't have to label our family dinner as my birthday celebration. We didn't have to eat my favorite foods, we could have eaten peanut butter and jelly for all I care. This weekend didn't have to be anything extraordinary, but it was, because we gave one another the gift of time. Unstructured, unplanned, and a little bit of unorganized time to be together. Time to laugh and time to cry and time to talk about the realness and complexities of life. 

Thank you for time with the people I love. 

That sounds entirely corny writing it out. Maybe I like corny, so I'll embrace it just this once, because it's true. This weekend, I spent hours that felt like an eternity with the people I love. In the spirit of birthday week and birthday gifts, the best gift that anyone could give me is time. And that's a gift that I want to give to the people in my life. I want to steal time; hours and minutes and days with the people I love. If you're in any way a part of my life, let's give one another the gift of time this week.


What do you think?