Friends are such a blessing...

Lately I have had several opportunities to catch up with old friends...or at least friends I don't get to see much. Isn't it neat how you have friends for a season and then maybe you don't spend as much time with them as you used to for one reason or another? The best kind of friends are the ones who, even though you don't see them as often, you still feel like you're just as close when you do see each other.

A few weeks ago, I had a great week of catching up with friends. I went to a week-long training class in downtown Houston. One of my closest friends at work, Kate, and I planned it so we were in this class together. We actually work in the same building, on the same floor, but we don't see each other much anymore. Our jobs don't really have reason to intersect and we're both busy in meetings, etc., so we just don't get to talk that much. And boy can we talk! On Monday of the class, Kate and I sat at a table together. By Wednesday, the instructor made everyone change tables. I think they always do this, but I'm sure that our incessant talking during the lectures probably made him even more eager to move us around. Well, we fooled him! We sat a different tables, but next to each other so we could still talk some! It's hard to describe why Kate and I are such good friends except to say that we have some of the same quirks. If you know me, then you will understand this comment...one of our favorite topics of conversation is our newest organizational systems. That's just not something I have in common with a lot of people!

Since I was downtown for this class, I made plans to meet up other with friends during the week for dinner. On Tuesday I met up with Mitzi. Mitzi and I became friends because we both worked at an inner city mission in New Orleans. That was 12 years ago, which is crazy! Mitzi is very fun to be around. She has a very infectious laugh. When she laughs, you have to laugh with her! There are some really funny stories from our days in New Orleans, some I think we'd both like to forget, but funny nonetheless. One of my (and Mitzi's) favorite stories is about when she was moving out of her dorm at Tulane. She is not strong at all when it comes to carrying things. I am not weight-lifter strong (and definitely wasn't back then!), but I can carry my own luggage usually. So, she was moving out and we had to get some books and some clothes downstairs from her third-story dorm room (no elevators). Knowing that she isn't that strong, we packed the books in one suitcase and the clothes in another. I took the suitcase with the books and she took the one with the clothes (much lighter than the books!). We got to the first landing on the stairwell and I kept going, but she stopped. I got down another floor and looked up and she was still standing there. So, I just walked back up and picked up both suitcases and walked down to the first floor while she walked down with nothing. The funny part is that neither of us said anything during the whole thing. Very typical story!

On Wednesday night, I had dinner with my friend Shanna, who I have known since elementary school. She is one of the sweetest people I know and I always wish I was more kind-hearted like she is. On our church ski trip our senior year of high school, another friend of ours found out that she got accepted to a different school than she was planning on going to and so was going to have to make this big decision that she didn't think she was going to have to make and I think there was a boyfriend involved that she didn't want to leave. Anyway, we were all having a fun ski trip and suddenly this friend is crying because she doesn't know what to do. Shanna immediately starts crying with her and says "No one cries alone in my presence!" which is totally Shanna. Really, I've never seen her NOT cry when someone else is crying. She's just so compassionate. She is having a baby in September, so I got to hear all about the preparations for their first baby. Goodness that baby is going to be so loved!

After a week of catching up, I was very refreshed from just being around people who know me well enough to tell me what they think and listen to me ramble about whatever is going on in my head. Then tonight, I had dinner with my old roommate, Barb, who is so much fun. Every time I talk to her, she has a new hair color and a new plan for where she's going to live next (next is coming up soon...she has to move out in June). The funnest thing about Barb is that, even though we are both grown-ups (come on, we have to admit we are grown up, now!), we sometimes find something random hilarious (often that no one else thinks is funny) and laugh for 30 minutes while we roll around on the floor. I'm pretty sure I haven't done that with anyone else in a good 10 years! Tonight, there was no laughter that involved rolling on the floor, just visiting and talking about whatever came up in conversation. It was one of our shorter dinners...only 2 hours, but still filled with chatting and planning and giving advice.

I wish I could say exactly what I talked about with each of these friends, but some of it I've forgotten and much of it isn't for public consumption. I can just say that it warms my heart to spend time with each of them and I'm so glad that I get the opportunity, even when they are few and far between. On days when I feel like no one understands me or knows all my secrets (and if they did, would they really like me?) or thinks I'm funny or knows where I come from, I remember that I have friends like these women, as well as a few others, who God put in my life for reasons that I may not completely appreciate, but am always humbled by.

Titles

I decided today that I needed to update the title of my blog. It's always been pretty boring. I'm never any good coming up with titles...I constantly get "feedback" that I am not very creative. Which is funny, because I actually think of myself as creative, just in a neat and orderly manner (I realize the irony of that statement!). Anyway, I have been trying to think of a new name for my blog for a few weeks.

Titles are funny things. I am someone's daughter, sister, friend, aunt, granddaughter, roommate, boss, employee, colleague, teacher, student, mentor, mentee (is that a real word?), running buddy, confidante, godmother, customer, project, etc. I also have an "official" title at work. It is very long...BTES BTCP Fixed Equipment/Inspection Section Supervisor. I kindof have a title at church...Group Navigator. I could also be called a Chemical Engineer or an MBA grad. I was once a summer missionary and still consider myself a volunteer. All of those things describe what I am to other people or the things that I do, but they don't describe who I am, I don't think. So, how can I describe who I am? Well, I would most likely use a lot of those titles above, which isn't what I want to do. Do you really want to read a blog entitled "Deep Thoughts from the BTES BTCP Fixed Equipment/Inspection Section Supervisor"? That's just not an appealing read!

Today in church, I decided that "By Grace" is a good new name. Not because this blog is written by someone named Grace. It's written by me, Jenny. But because I am learning more and more about grace and I think that that's the theme of my life. I saw the movie Amazing Grace last weekend and it is a wonderful story about abolishing slavery in England in the 1800's. It's called Amazing Grace because there are somehow ties to the man who wrote the song, John Newton, who was a slave trader at one time. I am also studying a book, What's So Amazing About Grace? by Phillip Yancey, with my small group. This book is absolutely wonderful and I think that everyone should read it. It not only opens your eyes to the grace that you've received, but also to how we should be expressing that to other people. It is phenomenal!! In the majority of sermons I have heard lately at church, we have talked about grace or forgiveness or acceptance in some way. So, grace has been all around me lately.

Often, the old saying "There but by the grace of God go I" runs through my head. I don't know where I picked up that habit. Maybe my dad says it alot? I'm not sure. When I see someone obviously struggling through life, whether it's in poverty or illness or just troubles, I am thankful that I have, seemingly, avoided such hardships. But, really, that applies to every instant of my daily life. Without God's grace, my life would not be so rich and full and privileged. I wouldn't have a job that I love and a family that is wonderful and friends that brighten my day all the time. I wouldn't be able to run or watch fun movies or buy clothes when I want to because I don't deserve those things.

The Webster's online definition of grace is "unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification." My definition is one that I heard somewhere, although I don't know where. To me, grace is getting something favorable you don't deserve. And I am quite certain that I don't deserve such a wonderful life. So, "By Grace" is my new title because I think that it says more about who I really am than all those other titles. I don't like the word "lucky" for some reason. It implies that there is luck, which means that life is full of randomness or fate. I sometimes use the word blessed, which is a good word to use. Just yesterday, I was rambling out loud about how blessed I have been lately to live somewhere with beautiful weather. But that word is kind of overused. In my recent reading, I have come to appreciate the difference that real grace makes in my life, so "By Grace" it is!

Absent Minded

I am definitely absent-minded. On Thursday, I left my wallet in the cafeteria in the building where my training class is. Fortunately, an honest person found it and turned it in to the cafeteria. The manager found my phone number in the work phone book, called and paged me. So, I didn't even realize that my wallet was missing until I knew that it was found. How absent-minded is that??