putting down roots...deeper roots

I was gardening in my flower bed the other day planting a new flower.  As I was digging, I ran into a root from an old bush that I pulled out and relocated to a different spot when Luke was a toddler.  I remember so fondly his little hands helping me pull and pull so hard to bring the bush out from under the soil that we both fell backward and just laughed (that's right, just like a Hallmark movie).  I can hear in my mind his little "umph"...and "woah!" that his little voice made.  I'm so thankful for that memory because it speaks right to Luke's nature of serving and helping even at a young age and it's just a great memory for me as a young mommy. I'm also thankful that I had a bush to pull out. It meant we had a yard to maintain and it needed no attention for the first few years. But pulling it out and relocating it meant there was room for something new to grow.  I wasn't getting rid of the bush, I was simply putting it in a better spot and for me to add something new to my life.


So many people relocate...for many reasons. For jobs, for family, for a new adventure, for new atmosphere, for education, for finding more about themselves...for so many reasons. I have a close friend moving away. She is so similar to me and we have grown close in only a short amount of time.  I am sad of course to be distanced from a friend that has such a special place in my heart.  I have been the one to leave before, and I can tell you, it is no easier - at least not for me - to be on either end.  But what I do know is that friendships like this last.  Even if time separates us, we will pick up where we left off.

This friend relates to me in so many ways. She agrees with me on so many levels, and not because she wants to, but because she just does:

she listens to all my words (which are many)
 
she reminds me that my tears are not something to be ashamed of; that they are a part of how God speaks to me and it should be cherished (mind you she taught me this through lots of my tears)

she loves her children, each one of them individually and without restraint...intentionally...she makes connection with them in ways that would exhaust most...she wants to please them and bring them joy as well as teach them to be respectable and kind people.
 
she makes God her focus of all things...everything comes back to "So, what is God saying to me?"
 
she continually reminds me that her family, after God, should be your first concern.  Above all else in this world your family is your support and you seek to make that support strong. 

she drops everything to make sure I'm ok.  Just checks in with me day to day (sheesh I sound depressed).  Mostly with hilarious texts that are inappropriate and genuinely sarcastic all the while being charming and loving.

she has great lipstick game

she's a SAHM...and likes it...and prefers it

she is game for celebrating EVERY single holiday...WITH DESSERTS!

she is cool af (and raises my cool game)

she encourages a "healthy marriage"

she has loads of fun with her extended family

she understands my husband 💖 and this is a feat for most ;)

music...well, we agree on most...except for Britany

she knows that good wine comes in good wineskins...I mean boxes that is

her love language is words

coffee and desserts and fires are best spent with a friend

dancing is fun! No matter how much rhythm you got!
 
joy...joy is to be found in almost EVERYTHING
and these are just a few GREAT things about her.  

 

And at the end of most of these I can say, "Me Too!" 

I think to know the Doubets is to a know a friend.  They do friendships really well...relationships well.  They are intentional, you can relate to them, they have fun parties, and find ways to individually connect with people.

I'm pretty sure from the moment I drank coffee with Sarah, I remember her talking about "putting down roots."  She's posed the rhetorical question many times, "when are we going to put down roots?" And I think for most it means where are we going to settle.  But if there is one thing I know about the Doubets it is they DO NOT settle! At least not for mediocre. From their coffee to their jelly beans to kitchen appliances...they have the best!  And it is all AWESOME!

I guess what I want to say about roots, Sarah, is even though you are moving and have wanted to put down roots for a while...know that you HAVE put down roots.  Not just with us Thielens, but with many other families as well.  YOU have left your roots everywhere! You invest your time in people from Pittsburgh, to Cincinnati, to Akron to Florence and I'm sure beyond. And each time you leave a root behind...a deeper root.  Everyone you meet has a little piece of you left in their garden because you have invested in their soil.

Which  means when you relocate each time, you also are taking a bit of our dirt with you.  Because to know you is ALSO to invest in you.  The relationship can't go anywhere if one side is doing all the investing...and you let others love on you well too:)  You have all kinds of my dirt and I've got all kinds of your roots that I'm sure I'll be stumbling over daily.  And I wouldn't have it any other way (well, really I'd love you to stay, but that's not to be).  I can't wait to see what your family does in your new place.  I'm sure it will be fantastic as you all are already.

Sarah, I am going to miss our easy conversations...our impromptu gatherings...our date nights...our play dates...our girls nights...your counsel...your presence.  But as I type those, I realize there are only a few of those things that I won't be able to tap in to. All the others I can still do just with a little bit of wifi, technology, and gas. You have become a life-long friend and I love ya!

In taking a note from the Doubet's book, for those of you that don't have family in town - as we once did in New Jersey - I say you put your all in!  You make friendships and you be there for people.  They will in turn be there for you.  And not that you are asking for anything in return when you do this, but because when you genuinely invest in others it draws them close to you as well.  The Doubets do this.  In every city they have lived in or been in...and it lingers.  Just like a root of a bush that you have transplanted, parts of it remain even years after it has relocated.

This is a verse that stood out to me about Sarah - she is ALWAYS looking for the JOY!

"Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.  Joyful are those who obey his laws and SEARCH FOR HIM with all their HEARTS.  They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths." Psalms 119:1-3