Thursday, October 4, 2007

Oh, yes it's ladies' night ...

Tonight, I met up for dinner with my friend Alicia, Tourette's Mom, and Trish. We had such a nice time and consumed an incredible amount of delicious food! Now, I will admit that since I have not had a night out with friends in nearly a year, it was bound to be a refreshing change for me no matter what. But, it really was such a great night.

First, it was wonderful to see Lynette (Tourette's Mom) because she's been through an incredibly painful year, and she lives far away, so this was my first chance to see her in person and give her a huge hug. And, it was even better to see how amazing she looks! She's radiant, glowing, beautiful - and with God's help, she has managed to get to a place where she's at peace and hopeful for the future. I respect her so much for handling her situation in such a positive way.

Second, it was so cool to meet Trish! Lynette and Alicia have been telling me about her for awhile now (they met her through church a couple of years ago), and I've recently started reading her blog on a regular basis. She's beautiful and funny - plus, I love her for being such a good friend to Lynette.

The best thing of all to me, though, was sitting at a table with three wonderful women and talking about God. That was a completely new experience for me, and it felt incredible to be able to do that without feeling weird or self-conscious. It's not like we had this full-on theological discussion, but we talked a little about church, our prayers, how God has helped us, Christian speakers we like (Trish: I promise to give Joel Osteen another chance!). As usual for me, I did more listening than talking, but it was very inspiring and uplifting, and I'm grateful to the ladies and to God for it.

Oops - R is calling for me, so I've got to go. But I'll be thanking God tonight for these women and for the fun we had. Woohoo!

6 comments:

kc bob said...

"to be able to do that without feeling weird or self-conscious"

That is nice ... and give Joel a second chance ... I like about 80% of what he says ... he has a great heart!

Johanna said...

I'm so glad you had this night out- Just make sure you read Joel's book, particularly about visualizing winning the beauty pageant, and buying the model house. T.D. Jakes, man!! But you are a wise,wise woman, and I'm sure you already have. Thank you as always for your loving comments, I always describe you as the nicest person in the world to my stepsons, and when they look doubtful I get very serious face and say "REALLY.SHE IS THE NICEST PERSON IN THE WORLD" and then they shut up, either in awe or so that I'll stop talking.And I haven't read everything Joel's written because I hang a lot more with Brennan Manning and Annie Lamott(thank you!!) I love you! Miss you!

LEstes65 said...

Oh man, I just flew in to Austin and BOY are my arms tired!

I had SO much fun with you guys. I'm pretty sure the food rocked but the company was much more impressive.

I got home and made mom stand here while I told her about our dinner. I think it really makes her feel good that I have such wonderful Godly friends. Makes me feel good, too!

I love you so much.

Wanda said...

Oh how I wish I could have been with you girls!!! All of you need to come to CA.

NoVA Dad said...

What a great evening, and it sounds like it was with a wonderful, friendly, loving, faith-filled, supportive group of ladies. What a dinner full of blessings for you!

Trish Ryan said...

It was SO cool to meet you, too! I felt the same way--I assumed we'd get along because we both love Lynette :) And it was incredible being able to hang out and talk about God as the topics bounced from everything from our love lives to what we wanted to have for dessert. Definitely one of the best girls nights ever, and I'm in anytime you guys want to do it again!