Friday, March 18, 2011

Kindred Spirits

hello blogosphere readers - it's been awhile. to be honest, jeff and i have been SO busy with out-of-town guests for the past 5 weekends and, thus, i have been preoccupied with cleaning, cooking and ENJOYING our time here in brooklyn.

god is funny. in early january i was complaining to jeff about how i was lonely and craved some family and friends from michigan. well, he answered my prayer! not only have we have michigan visitors for the past 5 (well 6, if you count my mom's visit) weekends, but i have also spent time hanging out with my new york friends.

beginning in february, the exodus of michiganders to brooklyn began with jeff's college friend, nate. the next weekend my brother, pete, and dad visited. four days later, nate stayed with us again while he traveled to new york city for business. my sweet cousin michelle came the friday that nate left. jane, cam and jane's sister also visited us the same weekend michelle was here (although they stayed in a hotel.) cam obviously couldn't get enough of us because he revisited last weekend. and, finally, my momma is headed here now! to say the least, jeff and i have fully lived-in and loved brooklyn...and may have gained a few pounds from all of the delicious food that brooklyn boasts (we had to show our guests a good time!)

onto other things...

the idea of kindred spirits has been heavy on my heart. there are two ladies the lord has put into my life that seem to have many shared experiences, desires, hopes, baggage as me.

the first woman whom i feel is a kindred spirit is my cousin, michelle. although i was richly blessed by all of the michiganders, her visit had a significant impact on me. michelle and i make up 2 of the 17 cousins on my mom's side of the family. yes, there are a LOT of us. i used to hear stories about how people were best friends with their cousins growing up. in all honesty, i was never THAT close with my cousins.... her visiting made me appreciate my family. similar to me, michelle is a junior at michigan state university studying speech & language pathology (the BEST career choice, if you ask me.) she is an over-achiever, so sweet, dates an asian man, is indecisive, loves puppies and, most importantly, loves her momma. her relationship with my aunt ann reminds me of my own relationship with my mom. michelle loves to be home (you all know i LONG for home!), appreciates her mom's hard work and hopes to always live near her momma. as we spent time together, both texting our moms about every move we made, i was shocked by how much her own life mirrored mine.

on top of these visitors, i have also reconnected with a dear friend, caroline. caroline is married to one of jeff's high school friends, alex. like us, caroline is white and her husband, alex, is asian (taiwanese to be exact.) we met about 4 years ago, when we were 19 or 20 and still in college. after an initial email explaining some things i have been walking through spiritually and relationally, i quickly thought to myself, "lord, THANK YOU for answering my prayers." caroline is a prayer-warrior, loves her husband and so easy to talk to. we have similar interests, husbands with similar backgrounds and just clicked...

okay, i need to go pick my momma up...

much love!