A NIGHT WITH FRIENDS *grin*

Yesterday I had quite a LONG day, but I must say that it was one of my BEST days in quite a while. I left here at 2 in the afternoon, and headed to Joplin, Missouri to visit with Karen and Laura. If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know that these are two of my FAVORITE people on the planet! *grin* Both ladies have their lives centered in Christ, and know how to spend an evening just talking about God and sharing in life's joys and challenges along the way. *grin*

I arrived at Karen's at 4-ish, and had a GREAT time with Karen getting caught up. God is going to move Karen out of the country in June, so it's a JOY to hear about her life now and how he's preparing her for the transition. Honestly, I soak up every moment with my friend, as I'm in denial that she's leaving. Don't get me wrong, I'm more excited for her than I've ever been for anyone in my whole life because she's finally going to be doing what God created her to do. *grin* I'm also in denial, as I go places in the Lord with her in ways I don't go with anyone else. That being said, we will have Skype and FB, so it will be fine. I'll just stay in denial for now. *grin*

After that, we headed to Olive Garden to eat dinner with LAURA! Laura is one amazing gal of the Lord who I hadn't seen in quite a while. I was so excited to see her!!! We got there and it was an hour wait. Well, we figured we were going to chat all evening anyway, so we decided to stay.

We wound up standing near the bar area that had tables, and were able to snag a table. That meant we were sitting with drinks and food in about 15 minutes. *grin* Of course, I had Coca-Cola while the gals had tea. *grin* We sat and chatted about God and all that He's done in us and through us since we had all been together the last time. We also laughed A LOT. It was SO MUCH fun!!!

I think Laura summed it up best by saying something like "This dinner conversation is not normal for me." I TOTALLY understood what she meant. Well, unless I'm with Karen. *grin*

I left Joplin at midnight, and got here at 2am. I am wiped out now, but it was well worth it. I thought on the way back about how God brings people together for seasons in life. I'm blessed because even though Karen's headed to the Nations, and Laura will eventually be headed to NC, we're friends for life. Something tells me that five, ten, and fifteen years from now when we gather for dinner, we'll continue to pick up where we left off with more testimonies of the goodness of the Lord in between our visits....and there will be tons of laughter at the same time. *grin*

I'm blessed. We have tentative plans to get together over Spring Break too. I. CAN'T. WAIT. *grin*

LIFE.
IS.
AMAZING, with AMAZING Godly Gals in my life. *grin*