one at a time

My best friend since I was about 5 years old just had her first baby 2 days ago.  I am OVERJOYED for her and her husband.  O.V.E.R.J.O.Y.E.D.  There is just nothing in this world quite like a baby bursting into your life and forever changing you.  I saw pictures of baby Parker yesterday morning for the first time.  He is perfect.  Just perfect.  And I was immediately flooded with memories and feelings of meeting my kids for the first time.  And I cried.  I cried because of the intense joy that those memories fill me with.  I cried because I was so happy for my best friend, whose heart was filling up in a way that she could have never possibly imagined before that moment. 

Flashback.

10 years ago I met Jessa.  She lived on my floor my freshman year.  I have this picture of her imprinted in my mind in her room from that year - sitting cross-legged on her bed, wearing a t-shirt and with a bandana in her hair, guitar on her lap. We both had less than desirable roommate situations our first semester of school.  Without really knowing one another, we decided that our living situations couldn't get much worse and decided to become roommates.  One of my best decisions ever.  She not only turned out to be a fantastic roommate, but became a lifelong friend.  You know, one of those friends that knows your core and loves you anyway.  One of those friends that you can spend all day talking about really real, deep things of life with but could also just spend all day being silly, laughing and getting into trouble (the good kind).  One of those friends that you know will be your friend no matter what.  One of those friends that you pray you will live close to again someday because everyday life with her in it is just that great.  I also remember vividly the first time that I met the man that would one day become her husband, Erik.  Myself along with about 20 other friends were packed into a room in the boys dorm listening to him tell one hilarious story and life experience after another.  We sat and sat and sat and laughed and listened and laughed...FOR HOURS.  He is just that hilarious and full of life.  They are great people.  

Erik and Jessa are having a baby too!  SO EXCITED.  And I am also OVERJOYED for them.  They are adopting a little one from Ethiopia.  Their story is a good one and you can read all about it on their blog.  And the coolest part...YOU can be a part of their story too!  They are being featured on this awesome blog, Give1Save1, this week.  So if you go to this link, you can watch a super cute video about them and you can be a part of their story too.  They are just asking for a dollar.  One dollar.  Four quarters.  Ten dimes.  20 nickels.  100 pennies.  That's it!

We know good and well how much each little bit helps after living off of the support and pledges from others while we were doing ministry overseas.  Each dollar helps.  And that is how life is.  We do things one thing at a time.  We learn to walk one step and a time.  We cross things off of our daily to-do lists one thing at a time.  We have to take hard seasons of our life one day, one hour, one minute at a time.  We finish our dinner one bite at a time.  One at a time.  

Life is so rich when we do it together.  I feel like that is the theme and thought that has been playing on repeat in my mind lately.  So let's do this together.  Let's be a part of their story.  Let's help their family have their "meeting Baby Parker" moment.  

Who doesn't want to be a part of that kind of story?