The Friendship Chain

I would have to say that the majority of my dearest friendships began and developed through the chain.  You know the chain.  The one where you meet one really good friend, then they somehow introduce you to another, then you've got two amazing friends and it just keeps going from there...  

Thirteen years ago I moved to Nashville for an internship and met a ton of dear friends from scratch. No chains...we just met from lucky, God-led scratch.  A few months later, one of those dear friends introduced me to another dear friend - Courtney.  She and I went through some crazy times throughout our twenties...I used to always say that people who thought the high school years were the roughest somehow missed their twenties - or hadn't yet made it there. Twenties.  A time to make it on your own - really on your own - for the first time in your life. New jobs that paid beans but made you feel like you were worth a million bucks.  Crazy insane relationships...both friendships and dating. Lots of drama and lots of laughter and lots and lots of tears.  Twenties - A time to really discover who you were....what you wanted to be when you really did grow up and then try to figure out how in the world to get there after you'd made so many mistakes along the way.  I couldn't wait for my 30's to arrive.  

Somehow I knew that once I entered my 30's everything would be ok...and yes, at the ripe old age of 31, I married the love of my life. The man I would spend the rest of my life with.  The man I would have beautiful twin babies with. I even found myself working in a job that was a dream to me in my twenties and it just keeps getting better. And the funny thing is that all of those bad and good, rough and easy things that happened in my twenties shaped and molded me into that 30's person....gave me the rich experience to work in the dream job I now find myself in, and the life experience to recognize the love of my life when he finally did arrive. Who would have ever thought that I was right.....that entering my 30's really was going to be magical.  (Note to Self:  Remember you wrote that line right there when you're having one of "those" days.) In the middle of that confusion that was my twenties (what do I want to do professionally....will I ever get married...will I ever have children...) God had a plan all along. 

So fast forward to two years ago.  My dear friend, the one who went through the highs and lows with me through what I thought to be the most trying years of my life (thus far...what do I know) was going through the most trying time in her life.  I can still remember bawling my eyes out, not wanting to call her and tell her the happiest news of my life because for so long I had been praying...she was supposed to be the one to call me first to tell me this same news...I had wanted that so badly for her for so long.  But life had different plans....little did we know....

Fast forward to 14.5 months ago.  I got the word.  I got the word!  I think I got it from her blog first, but I finally got that "call" I had been waiting for for so very long!! Jake!  Just 3 weeks after my babies were born, Courtney became a mother to the most beautiful baby boy, Jake! ...Little did I know that while my girls were being shaped and molded by God's hands in the womb, little Jake had been being shaped and molded by God's hands in the womb. Those same tears came back again - only they were complete and utter tears of joy!  What an amazing God we serve.  His perfect, perfect timing was just holding out with the literal matchmake from heaven as he brought Jake to my dear friend and her amazing husband.

One month later, Courtney continued that friendship chain.  She introduced me to a dear friend of hers who was expecting twins.  The bond between twin moms is undeniable.  There is the immediate connection you feel with someone who is going through - has gone through - or is about to go through the trials and joys of being a mother of multiples. Now, I had this awesome friendship chain link from one amazing friend to now another.  She too had walked a tough walk and God's perfect, perfect timing had brought her the pregnancy of her soon-to-arrive babies Madeline and Annabel just before Courtney was blessed with Jake and I with Madeline and Savannah!

Fast forward to 15 months later. Last weekend.  After months of planning, we finally found time that we could all three sync our hectic crazy schedules of motherhood/family/work together and met up in Nashville at Courtney's for the weekend.  Me with my twin girls, Lacey with her twin girls, and Courtney with her beautiful boy.  All under one roof, for 3 days.  And we made it!! And we had a great time!! And we continued that chain of friendship by introducing our children to each other.  For the first time ever, my girls spent 3 days straight with little people that were their age (other than each other, of course)!  And Jake...oh poor Jake.  He  is the boy among 4 little girls....and he was the quietest of the 5, just taking in all this "girl stuff"!! Oh Jake.  It's only going to get worse! But he was such a trooper and I know the girls just adore him as much as I do.  And my girls now have met 2 girls who share that same twin bond only twins can understand....they will all 5 look back on some of these pictures one day and laugh!!

In the meantime, the 30's just keep getting better.  I have an amazing husband, amazing daughters, amazing family, and an amazing circle of friends that just keeps growing.  I thank God for His timing, and I thank God for His hands that brought dear friends to my life.    

What a weekend.  Hopefully after the twin invasion that took place at Courtney and Jason's house (oh yes, Jason was there all weekend too! He deserves an award!!), we will still be friends - ha ha! But I look forward to the continued chain of friendship that only comes from an amazing God who puts people in our lives at just the right times for just the right purposes.