I'm a lucky girl

I am blessed with amazing friends. It is never a mystery to me as to why I love them, but, with healthy insecurity, it always seems so mysterious as to why they love me, but, alas, they do. While I was away on vacation, I thought about how lucky I am to have a plethora of different friends. As I returned home, it was one of the first times that leaving New England for Texas didn't seem like punishment or an obligation, but as appropriate and joyful. This was amplified by what met me when I returned.

While in her home state of Washington, my friend Molly bought me this ridiculously funny plastic play set called "The Avenging Unicorn." When she saw it, she said to herself, "It's so not Amber, that it IS Amber!" I love it and giggle everytime I look at it.

My friend Sara was in Flordia for a weekend and saw "The Bodies" exhibit, which is a collection of amazingly dissected human cadavers, posed in unique stances, such as kicking a soccer ball or holding their own dermis. In the museum, she visited the gift shop and found a Salmonella plush toy. In the card she attached with the gift, she wrote, "I saw this cute little microbe and it reminded me of you...not because you cause diarrhea but...uhh...anways." I definitly broke into laughter in the middle of the post office, and I was so overjoyed that the strange looks I received didn't phase me a bit.

Deanna visited her brother-in-law in the Rockies and brought me back a really cool slab of pine tree with the following poem engraved into it:
Don't walk in front of me
I may not follow
Don't walk behind me
I may not lead
Just walk beside me
And be my friend
It sits on my night stand and reminds me nightly of the special task of being a friend.

But, perhaps the greatest gift I received came to me today in an email. I am feeling a bit insecure and overwhelmed at the moment. Progress and change occur so slowly, in all areas of life, and this is becoming very evident to me. However, Kate gave me great hope by these kind words:

Dear Amber,
I love and enjoy and am thankful for your company and friendship for many reasons, but right now the thing that stands out most is how you wear the mantles of power you've been given. You are not hungry for it, you do not boast of it, and you would shrug all appearance and fact of it off for maximum equality with those you lead if you could, so that leading for you would be nothing more or less than serving (as it should be, yet seldom is in this world). You epitomize how someone should act in a spirit of service...
I love these things about you, and I love you for them.
Thank you for being my friend and for being a good example for me to try to emulate. (And no worries, you're not on a pedestal...I'm just really happy to know you!)

I don't know what I would do without these amazing women in my life. They make starting back on this long journey after a small, small break seem not so scarry. I love you, gals!