Community

Today I am grateful for the power of friendship and authentic community.

My roommate's (Abigail) birthday is Monday, and we decided that today's Sabbath would be a good time to celebrate. Carole, Abigail and I spent a big chunk of our day exploring several new things around Houston. We took advantage of a beautiful November day (seriously, it was in the 80's today) and trekked out to the Houston Arboretum. This is the most nature-y place I've experienced over the past two months! We were actually secluded and far enough from the city to not be able to see any buildings. We could still hear the faint sound of cars on the highway, but we were excited enough to be surrounded by trees, flowers, and butterflies that we didn't care about the highway noise. It was beautiful. We ended up running into another team member, and we all sat by a pond and ate our lunches and watched the fish and turtles, talking about life and our experiences in Mission Year so far. It was a beautiful, well-spent afternoon. From there, Carole and I surprised Abigail by taking her to the local SPCA so we could spend some time visiting animals (namely cats, which Abigail really loves). We had such a great time looking at each cat and dog and playing with two cats and one dog.

Now we're back at McDonald's, the closest place to our house with free wifi. Fridays are good. This day was good for resting and doing new things. It's nice when both can happen. So many of my Fridays have been spent in the same coffee shop (it's a favorite for a reason, but it feels a little boring after so many weeks in a row). It is exciting and encouraging to have good friends here that I can enjoy Sabbaths with. It is good to have friends whom I can talk to about anything and everything, and to grow and share life with.