When I was growing up, my parents were in a Supper Club that was like twelve families or something. Over the years, people moved. People had more and more kids. Those kids got older. Life happened and the group eventually dissolved. You know what didn't....the relationships. Rarely do they all see one another, but you know who checked on my dad when he had heart surgery? Those people. They are at weddings, funerals, and everything in between. Some of these people I go years without seeing and when I do, it is like we have seen each other everyday. These are friendships that left a lasting impression.
Some people have a once a month supper club. Some people see each other occasionally with out spouses. Some people are lonely and long for a friend. Some people have their group, and they do life. That is us.
We are fortunate enough to have a group of six that I wouldn't trade for the world. We have been together through heartache, births, deaths, happy times, embarrassing times, failures, and successes. We have filled in for each other in the mom/dad world. Our kids think they are more of family than friends.
We have celebrated lots of birthdays, anniversaries, births,graduations and other holidays.
We have cried together and had hard discussions. We have steered each other in the other direction. We have had hard conversations about faults. We have cried together and for each other.
We have been on vacations together. Our kids want to know every Saturday morning if they are coming over because we are always together.
We have seen each other at our lowest and loved each other through it. We have had talks and maybe some heated conversations about life and decisions. We have scolded each other and come out of it stronger.
There have been burned dinners (Holly can't cook), take-out, pajama wearing back porch conversations that are some of my favorite adult life memories. We don't cook elegant meals and most are centered around five boys making weird bodily function sounds with their mouths and referencing the "wieners" we are eating. Life is real with these people and we hope our kids gain table manners before the littlest lady starts sitting with them.
We have theological debates(usually between David and Brandon) that are healthy for us all and make us all more aware of the Jesus who saved us. We are filthy, broken people, but we were all redeemed by a faithful God.
We challenge each other to be better husbands/wives (usually with sarcastic comments or mocking each others argument patterns David/Jae Holly/Brandon), moms/dads, friends, family and Christians. We usually find out things from Nick and Ashley because they apparently talk alot. They only have one child. They have time to talk.
Our group texts should never be released to the general public. We get each other! We love each other. We make each other better. We know each other better than we know ourselves at times. We know each others parents. We know extended families and have been to family functions of the others. We know the quirks and ins and outs of it all.
We discipline each others children if need be and have been known to clean their vomit.We have watched time-outs take place, spankings happen and children intentionally barf medicine. When one member goes down sick, more than likely a few more follow. We share all even germs.
We can't play games without fighting like siblings. It doesn't matter if the rules are spelled out in pictures with a detailed description...we have six different opinions of what it really means. One where discretion must be used always ends in someone getting butt hurt and endless jokes for a few months. Game three always goes to the females because the males self-destruct by that point. You ALWAYS play two out of three unless you are worried, then three out of five. Brandon and Jae are hotheads.
Can I tell you how much I love these people? I am so thankful that God crossed all of our paths and brought us together. We love our people and what they bring. We have a rating system of meanness and we know where each other stands. We have three type A and three type B people and we balance each other well.
In today's fast-paced world, it is rare to have these relationships. We lock our doors and guard our lives. We don't let people in. The vast majority of the world is missing out. If you don't have these friends, let your guard down and find you some. Do life with these people. Really know them. Sit around a table together and love each other through the good and bad.
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