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Totally Worth It

Shout out to a couple friendships tonight, while I wait for Kings of Leon to play on Jimmy Fallon.*

Friendship #1 (and 1.5):
I actually meet Friend 1.5 first, but we're only casual acquaintances. I meet Friend 1 and take her for a coffee, thinking I probably won't meet her again...but then she moves to my city and becomes my coworker and before long, my friend. I drive 9 hours to go to her wedding (to Friend 1.5). She was the first person I cried about leaving behind in Vancouver. But then they end up moving to Ontario a few months later. New territory for them both. It is not much of a sacrifice to hop on a bus to the next town over for a dinner of eggplant parmesan, followed by a dessert of pumpkin ice cream, chocolate biscotti, and chai (all homemade!!!!!!!!!).

Hanging out tonight was hilarious. And encouraging. The best combination of worlds. I wish I'd just tape recorded the whole night. (Amelia and Varun can't help but being funny, and Amelia blogs about their inter-cultural marriage regularly. Read it here.)


Friendship #2:
You know those friendships that are totally unexpected, random conversations that end up being so much more than you could have imagined at the time?

I caught up with just such a friend earlier this week. We talked on the phone for nearly two hours, and I did not tell him that I love him. We are incredibly different, and incredibly similar. It boggles my mind.

I told him that I want to adopt children from developing countries some day. He said, "You're like Angelina Jolie!"

We talked about the reality that I do doubt my faith, but can't get away from the amazingness that I believe Jesus is. He said, "If Christians could get rid of all that hokey-pokey stuff about Jesus healing a blind man and burning a tree, and boil it down to the main moral teachings, I'd totally get on board."

But then he reminded me, "You've changed every view I ever had of religion. I talk about it with respect now."

I told him that I pray for him. I care about him & his life, and that's what I do. I said I hoped that didn't creep him out. He said, "It's really touching. I only have one person in the whole world praying for me..."


Moral of the stories: my friendships surprise me and make me smile and I like conversations that spin my head and change my heart just a little. Um, I just want to remember these nights and that when I am exhausted at the end of the week, it is totally. worth. it.


*I hardly watched their performance. Nadine and I were too busy talking. Roommate win. Late-night win. Sleep fail.

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