I love San Diego... I love it for a lot of reasons. It has lovely weather (Of course it's raining outside right now :). You can go to the beach and the mountains in the same day. There are an endless amount of things to do that cost little to no money at all. The air is clean. The majority of people around here are active and there is an abundance of delicious healthy food options to be found on almost every corner.
On the flip side, this city is overflowing with individuals and families alike that can't really afford to live here. An abundance of people who live outside of their means, who are constantly trying to keep up with the Jones's (whoever the hec they are?) Materialism surrounds us. Competition is the name of this city's game. Who's the skinniest? Who drives the nicest car? Who decorates the house in the most lovely of decor? Even when we're trying to be "thrifty"
we still compete over who got the best deal. I am guilty of this myself. A friend gave me a compliment the other day about something that I was wearing. But instead of simply saying thank you, I proceeded to explain how I had got the dress at a thrift store for a mere $2 several years ago. People are often times very shallow, surface-y, empty, and often times looking for love in all the wrong places. (I'm sure this can be found all around the world just the same.)
It can be hard to find true, genuine, deep, lay-it-all-on-the-table, share my strengths AND my weaknesses, speak the truth, fun-laughing, truly live all of life, kind of friends. And for some reason that I cannot explain, The Lord has brought not only one, but a generous handful of gems into my life. What I love most about living in San Diego has nothing to do with all it's geographical perks but everything to do with the women who I get to live my life with.
When I see these women we talk about our hearts. We talk about our marriages and how we can spend less time wrapped up in what we want from our spouses and more time figuring out tangible ways to spend our days making our home and our actions a blessing to our husbands. We talk about our kids. We confess our struggles and go to The Word in search of ways that we can better train each one of our children up in righteousness. We talk about our Savior and how much we love Him and we remind each other of how much HE loves us.
We say the hard stuff. The stuff that nobody wants to say and the stuff that is often times hard to swallow. We say it because the hard stuff is what helps us grow. WE know each other's hearts. We know each others intentions. We sharpen each other (Proverbs 27:17). We spur one another on towards love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24).
These women are what I love most about San Diego.
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And yesterday, My dear friends Mindy and Monique, invited a handful of our closes friends over to Monique's house for an afternoon tea to send off and encourage Tara and I with scripture and prayer and friendship. And my silly words on this silly blog could never express the gratitude and love that I felt from these women at this tea.
The food was sooo yummy!!!!
The set up was elegant and blissfully peaceful.
The conversation was encouraging and memorable.
Each woman shared scripture and some very tender and kind words about the things that they like about Tara and I. I soaked it all up, let many tears fall, and cherished each moment in my heart. ALL their words were a blessing but one part of scripture stuck out to me above all the others. It comes from the first Psalm and it talks about each of us being like a tree firmly planted by the water and how when we choose to delight in the law of the Lord we will become like "trees of righteousness."
And for some reason that little phrase, "tree of righteousness" hasn't left my mind since yesterday. I've been thinking about Colorado and meeting new friends. I've been thinking about not wanting to leave the friends I have now. Thoughts have crossed my mind like, "I am going to be to tired, to fat, and to cold to be able to muster up any time to meet new people." Or how about this thought, which I am embarrassed to even admit because I am 30 years old and this is the kind of stuff I thought about when I was in junior high... but thoughts like, "Nobody's gonna like me, bla, bla, bla," have also crossed my mind. Silly I know! But then this reminder that the Lord wants to grow me into a "tree of righteousness" for His great glory!!! What a thought that my little "housewife life" can be grown into a tree of righteousness by the personal hand of the same GOd who created the universe!
So this is my prayer... That no matter where we move... no matter how cold it is... no matter how round I get...By God's grace, may in each new place I find myself in for the rest of my life, may I continually be being transformed into a MIGHTY TREE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS for the absolute glory of my amazing Savior!!
Mindy, Tara, Me, and Monique...
And a generous handful of all the gems in life.
Thank you ladies for being true, genuine, deep, lay-it-all-on-the-table, share my strengths AND my weaknesses, speak the truth, fun-laughing, truly live all of life, kind of friends!
