Many a post on this blog have been about friendships along our journey. No place has been without both loneliness and deep friendship. When we moved “home” to Virginia we settled in as if it was going to be forever. Being a foreign service family we knew we wouldn’t likely be the ones living in our home forever but we had plans to hold onto it and for it to be our “home”. Anywhere on the globe our children would know their home. Life moved along and we were pulled more and more to moving life closer to family. But why leave a career Seth loved and a life set up here when things were so stable. After much searching and praying and talking and pondering we decided that after MaryAnne was born we would dive into a job search. Seth had looked the previous year and we were leerly of starting it all again. But we looked. And we waited. Someday I will hop back on and tell you the long of it but the short of it is that a week from Thursday our belongings will be packed for what we hope is the last time in a long while. And then they will be loaded up and will make the drive back to familiar lands north of Dallas in Plano, Texas. A home awaits us there, as well as grandparents, siblings, cousins, a farm and a completely different life. Whew. More on that later.

But where the heck does chicken come into all of this?

Before even coming back to the US, I signed up for Mothers of Preschoolers and a community bible study group so that I would be sure to have fast friends. We had great friends from our previous times in DC but we were now toting older kids, and spread our geographically so coordinating schedules became tough. Our visits were sweet but rare. While our social calendar was full of friendly faces and fun activities it took longer to find those deep friendships. I have learned in the last 5 moves that while you do get better at the packing/unpacking, setting up house, and meeting people, deep friendships just can’t be rushed. It has only been in the past 7 months that God really dropped a new dear friend into my daily life.  What began as a friendship out of necessity with carpooling kids around has been a sharing of daily joys and woes.  We know each other’s children’s interests and triggers. She has seen the worst of days for mine and I have seen her kids best behavior days! Or so it feels. A few months back we started a habit of picking up an extra rotisserie chicken at the store if either of us was at Costco. For my international friends, I realize this sounds like quite the splurge but Costco sells a plump rotisserie for a bargain. And you stay at home moms know the wonders of a cooked chicken during a jam packed week. Oh the possibilities. Anyhow, back to the chicken deal. We never exchanged money, we just held up our end of the deal and returned the favor when it came time to run to the store. The chickens arrived with the most impeccable timing on nights when cooking dinner felt like an impossible feat. A reminder of community and God’s provision through friends.

Seth and I were laying in bed the other night rehashing the to do list and what final things need to be done that last day in town. I ran through my long stressful list and then burst in to tears as I told him the last thing I need to do is deliver a chicken.

I know it will take many days and months, shoot, here it took years, to have deep friendships. But I do know that God has chosen special friends for us along the way, at just the right time, and capable of meeting just the right needs, not just for friendship, sometimes evenfor chicken.

I have a bazillion months to catch up on but couldn’t stand the delay any longer. Here is a picture catch up on our Fall to tide over the grandma’s and friends who have been patiently waiting and checking for updates! I read a quote the other day “Autumn is the year’s last smile”. We have been soaking it up and moving non-top. The weekends are packed with soccer games, times with neighbors and all things Fall!

As I drove the route to the preschool yesterday I could almost see our path. We have now been beating paths between schools, church, our favorite eats and of course the pharmacy and grocery store for nearly 2 years. We are coming up on the longest time living in one place since getting married nearly 9 years ago. It hit me yesterday that we have settled here. Transition is always in sight but for now, right here, right now we are rooted. Our garden grows out back and we have been here long enough to have friends in a variety of overlapping circles…indications of roots.

In the beginning our steps on these routes were cautious and anticipated, everything was new and uncertain. Now they come without much thought and fall within our every day.

The thing about this Foreign Service lifestyle, much like any expat or missionary lifestyle is that we grow accustom to transition and change and when life allows a little time to linger it’s hard not to get antsy. We hate goodbyes, we put out heels in the ground when the time comes to be dragged off…yet there is still the itch for something new, exciting and a fresh start. Strange how this works.

Our next adventure is yet to be determined. It will likely be stateside but at this point we wait!

My prayer over these days and weeks is that we will continue to root ourselves in our current relationships, home and community. That we would be preoccupied with life here and now, watching these 3 little lives grow and hopefully making an impact on those along the worn path.

Two years ago when we moved into our home (you know the one we bought sight unseen from Switzerland) I took my first drive through the neighborhood and spotted a home that looked similar to the layout of ours but had fresh grey siding and a happy, red door. I jokingly told Seth that whoever lived in that house would be a friend of mine. She had great taste!! So certainly she was friend material.

We dove head first into our home renovations and got busy settling the kids before school. School kicked off and we lived in that first month fog trying to navigate life with a little boy in school, along with all of the wonderful to be stateside activities like playdates, bible study and MOPS! A month or so into school Jackson pointed out one morning that he knew the little girl coming out of the mysterious red door on our way to drop off. I soon learned that this little girl was from Jackson’s class and that her mom was the class room mom. As I got to know her she indeed became a fast friend. Not one that I spent tons of time with but one that I could quickly relate to and jump in where we left off in our last “speed session”. I learned that her family too was a family that moved every couple of years for her husband’s job and she was juggling making life normal for her kids while also trying to keep her sanity in the midst of life being in a state of flux most of the time. We shared a similar lifestyle and similar work so we had plenty to chat about!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been doing the final touches on our outside work on the house. The shutters are done and the fixtures are up but the last thing to do was a cheery red door.  And as much as I wanted a red door I can now tell you from experience that the process was a bit more vulnerable than I had anticipated.

We picked California Poppy by Behr for our first go round. It came out, well, let’s just say, more poppy than we wanted. I went out to take pictures around dusk to send to my mom and it practically glowed!  We tried a couple more coats in hopes it would deepen. Next round we took the remaining paint to HomeDepot and had them add a little black which was supposed to deepen it. When Seth popped open the can to get going on the last coat he discovered that the guy had added WAY more black than needed and it had turned a purpley maroon color. So back to HomeDepot (wonder how much Homedepot makes from projects gone wrong?…probably  more profit there than original purchases) for a deeper color all together. Ruby Ring it is.

Here she is. I haven’t rehung our wreath but you get the idea!

She looks extra good with a cute tball player posing in front of her! Don’t you think?!

Back to vulnerability and what the heck this all has to do with friendship. The minute we started taping the door we were causing a scene. Our winter barren front yard left all the attention on the action. Cars were slowing down to see what Seth was doing! Ha! With each coat we got comments from neighbors and held our breath for the outcome. The texts and facebook comments were coming in! It’s a bit like putting yourself out there in friendship. It requires a bold move and risk. And it certainly requires time for the friendship to develop into what you hope it will be. You can feel a little silly and awkward in those early attempts but if you can endure those days of deepening you can see something so much more unique and fulfilling than the surfacy stuff you began with.

The risk is worth taking. On friends and doors. The friendships I have taken risks on are worth every effort, and if they are not I soon know to move on….to other paint colors, I mean friendships.

Paint something red this week….and take a risk on a new friendship. Don’t get scared in the maroon, poppy phase…it will deepen in to something so much better!