Thank God for new friends!

So, adjusting to Charlottesville has been good...and hard. It's not Texas! :) I say that with a grin, for sure. Texas has a little different flair than Virginia does...not that either one is bad or better, just that they're different. Meeting people has been harder than I thought it would be...I guess that's because I don't work anymore, so I don't automatically have a group of people to meet with whom I might have something in common. We did go to Church last Sunday; it was so great. The service was wonderful, the preaching was awesome. But...no one noticed us. No one greeted us. It was quite lonely. I know Church isn't all about meeting people and all, but...Anyway, I'm sure we'll meet people as we go, but I think what's different is that WE will have to do the reaching out. Which is fine...just...different. Not what I'd expected...

Anyway...So, last Saturday as we were coming back from the City Market (which is FABULOUS, and which we've been to every Saturday so far...) there's a family in front of our house. She's from Oklahoma, so she's had to learn how to adjust to things being different, too. They have 2 kids that are 6 and 5, but they love Ev, so that's fun.

Today, she took us to a WAY cool swimming park in town. It was fantastic. She is gregarious, fun and a great resource, too. She was a missionary for a little while, so she understands me a little. :) We're different people in many ways, but it's been nice to have someone reach out and show me around. I don't feel so alone in a new town, anymore.

The pool was awesome and the boys totally enjoyed themselves. And it was nice for me, too. I got to talk with her for a little as our kids played, and that was fun. It's hard being away from the friends I have "back home" ... I've missed them immensly and calling isn't as frequent as any of us would like; being so far away means no coffee breaks together or going to the gym together. But I'm going to enjoy the ray of sunshine I've got, even as I miss my friends back in Texas.

As I type, Sufjan Stevens' rendition of "Come Thou Fount" is on. "...Come Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy Grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise!! Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the Mount; I'm fixed upon it. Mount of Thy unchanging love!!"

So true!! My streams of mercy are showing up everywhere. Even in little things. Today at City Market, we had a homemade crepe with Nutella in it. YUM! The gentleman who plays music brought his banjo and Everett LOVED it! Tate had a fantastic time throwing Cheerio's and charming the pants off of everyone. Strolling around in the sunshine made us all feel happy and special. Like the sun was shining just for our enjoyment of it. And it was. It was a stream of mercy...

"Oh to Grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be..."

I'm all mushy now. :)