The Luckiest

I'm the luckiest. Lucky (blessed) to have the friends that I do. I just got home from the wedding weekend of Greg and Jen England which also turned out to be a Cedarville friend renunion. By the way, I was either going to title this post "the luckiest" or "wish those annal fissures didn't hurt so much." You definitely had to be there at the "wish" table to get that one.

Greg and Jen had a beautiful wedding ceremony. Truly, it was beautiful. The service focused on the grace of God and what a perfect example of marriage we have in Christ and the Church. This was delivered by our very own "pastor Dave," and what a special thing for one of Greg's best friends to perform their ceremony. Greg and Jen wrote their own vows, and I was so touched by what they said. Especially Greg, after knowing him for so many years, and hearing how this woman has changed his life, how much his heart is committed to her and to God, and what an impact he has had on Jen's life. I know I'm not his mom or anything, but I'm so proud of him.

This morning we got together at Ang and Ryan's for a late brunch. It reminded me of how many of our places we've been to together, all the trips we've taken, cooking for a big group and just hanging out. So many fun times.

One of the countless things I love about my college friends is that we always laugh so much together. I love hearing Eric laugh, and Ryan, who was the first to marry into our group, is somehow the ring leader of our shananagans. Our table was having such a good (i.e. loud) time that I think people probably thought we were the abnoxious drunk relatives that come out of the wood work at weddings, except that we're not related and we weren't even drunk. We seamlessly pick things up like not a day has passed apart. And as sappy as this sounds, I'm going to say it anyways- I'm just so completely happy when I with them. Being with friends who you've lived with for 4 years, day in and day out, who know all the bad along with the good and all your idiosyncracies, it's like being with family, being able to be your real self. And yet being with them makes me want to be my best self. They make me better. I know you're laughing but I'm mean it :)

In addition to Greg and Jen's wedding, we had more news to celebrate. Aaron is getting married to Katie! Another wonderful thing we've experienced as friends is welcoming spouses and children and siblings into the group. It was great to see Deb (remember when you visited Cedarville?), and the boys are all so grown up with their wives. I think us girls should stop "the boys" thing and maybe call them "the guys" now. Jen, Lauren, Katie, Annie, and April are all awesome girls and I look forward to getting to know them better through the years. Our guys sure are lucky!

God has been so good to all of us. I love seeing how He has led each of our lives and all the things my friends are doing and have become. I count you as one of my greatest blessings. I do feel like I'm the luckiest.

So in my imaginary perfect world, we all live the same cool city, go to the same church, and get together once a week at our places for Bible study and snacks. We hang out on the weekends and don't have to do a whole lot to be entertained. Until I can somehow arrange everyone's live to fit my dream world, college reunions (Oct 2008!), frequent trips and girls weekends in Chicago, and weddings will have to do. Thank goodness that Aaron and Katie are getting married this summer, I only have 6 months to miss them all!