Life Lately

Oh, hi there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I started this post last Tuesday but finally finished it today. Sorry for the absence in the last week. To me, that feels like a long time. To you, it probably doesn’t seem that long at all. (At least that’s how I feel when I see bloggers apologize about the time since they’ve written — I’m just always glad they’re back.)

It’s been a couple of weeks filled with joys and sorrows. I’ll start with my weekend two weeks ago. I forgot to bring my camera with me, so bear with me as all the photos are from my phone….

Two weekends ago my friends Emily, Allison and I drove up to the middle of Virginia to visit our friend Ashley. Friendships have a way of fueling the soul, don’t they? We spent the weekend eating, laughing, and enjoying the cool mountain air. We stayed in an 18th Century inn that had 5 fireplaces and creaky, smooth wooden floors. It was beautiful! This phone photo captured the weekend perfectly:

Then we came home Sunday and Allison and I went to visit our friends Seth and Katie who delivered their baby Blythe four weeks early last week and found out she has downs syndrome. What a precious little girl! She was tiny and quiet and it was so special meeting her for the first time.

Monday I went to the NC mountains to visit my friend Michelle and her new baby Reagan. Yes, it was the weekend of babies! We got there before lunch and spent the whole afternoon doting on Reagan.

Isn’t she precious? :)

Then Wednesday morning I found out the devastating news that one of my friends from high school took his life Tuesday evening. I don’t even know how to deal with such a shock. My family and I went to the funeral on Saturday. The church was filled with people openly weeping for the loss of their son, brother, friend. The reception afterwards was so strange. It was like a reunion, seeing old dear friends from high school, but our embraces were those of comfort, hurt, confusion.

Life is hard and sometimes I feel so small. I wish I could have done something, I wish I could have helped. I wish I could have told him there is always hope. There is always hope. My only comfort is trusting that one day God will undo all of the sadness in the world.

The remainder of the weekend was spent with my family at our Mardo Staycation, an annual summer retreat my parents host for our family. We spent our evening drinking wine on their patio, talking and laughing for hours.  It was a lovely end to a rough week.