Recharged

This past weekend we traveled to a wedding for a dear, dear college friend of mine. One of the biggest highlights of this trip (besides the wedding itself) was re-connecting with friends I haven't seen in a few years from my college years and my DC years. It just struck me down deep that both this friend getting married and I had made the same friends from different settings. Well, yes, the Mennonite social scene is kind of like that where we generally have similar lifestyles and views of our surroundings, so I'm kind of not surprised to cross paths with these various folks.

It was a refreshing weekend, to say the least. This group of friends has been a close-knit community since day one of college. We keep in touch here and there and pick up where we left off when we see each other. There were a few missing at the wedding, which kind of made it easier to visit with the ones that were there, given that we weren't in town for very long. Nonetheless, they were greatly missed.

It's just so inspiring to hear what everyone is doing. One family (with three young boys, ages 6 months- 5 years!) is back in the country for the summer, but will return to their lives in South Africa with Mennonite Missions for another three years. Marc and I spent a good chunk of time reflecting on our way home about how this family sets a great example of how to do different things with young children. We'll see what happens with this.

Another couple just bought six acres of prairie and plan to start building a straw bail house next spring. Meanwhile, they are full-time volunteers on a community farm and they keep this AMAZING garden growing as well as do some other community projects during the non-growing season. They were telling me that they have learned so much about gardening, they basically only go to the grocery store for dairy and meat. Otherwise, they grow it themselves... you don't get as local as that!

I could share more things what people are doing, but these are what hit home to us the most. It was wonderful to see Ben interact with everyone and Marc getting to know these friends more.

The wedding was beautiful, the reception was delicious, and the community was inspiring and jolly. I wish it could happen all over again.