It takes a short drive and a good cup of coffee for me to escape my often daunting present life (work being the daunting part) and breathe a little bit of a more relaxed time in my life. I forget how much I love going back to Norman, how much I love the girls at the Alameda church there. How much I love spending time with Pam. I think I've talked about Pam on this site before...our lives are so different from when we used to skip class, drive to Classic 50s for Happy Hour, and plan our trips to New York. But not so different that we can't laugh just like we used to. Gosh, sometimes I just miss being in Norman.
Every so often I go down to Norman for "Coffee Talk", which is what the girls at Alameda do every Monday night, every other month. They get together at 8:00 after their kids are in bed and just chat for hours. I started going as an excuse to catch up with Pam (because we just don't make the time to get together otherwise) and it's turned into developing some really fun friendships. Getting to know a lot of people....they are such a fun group. So open and comfortable with each other. If anyone needs a good church home in Norman--give it a try because they are amazing.
It always makes me wonder what life would have been like had John and I kept going to Alameda, even after we moved to Edmond. We did that for a while. It made for an early Sunday morning! We ended up leaving for what I still believe was a very good reason that had nothing to do with distance or alarm clocks, and unfortunately we haven't wanted to face that reason and step foot back in the building since we left. I was very disappointed in the way our relationship with that church ended, but like he usually does, God made up for it by taking us in a wonderful direction. He had other relationships, other ideas for us. And while I desperately miss so many of the people at Alameda, I have found solace in the amazing group we've spent the last 3 1/2 years with.
This weekend I'm headed to Dallas with a group of girls from our current church. We're all going sans husband and kids....just kicking back with the girls and shopping til we drop. I'm so excited because I get such a kick out of every one of them. They gave me hope that we could be involved in a church again. Gave me hope that we could have that kind of support and love and fun we had in Norman.
Our relationship with that group still has so much growing to do, and I let work get in the way so often of diving right in. It's also been a long road of recovery and healing for things that happened before we met any of them, and I hate that for so long I kept my distance because of that. But I hope they all know how much they mean to us, and how grateful we are for their friendship.
So, needless to say I feel like I have two very different, distinct families. I'm so glad, so relieved that I can go to Norman now and feel relaxed and relieved. Who knows....we may even get the guts one day to try another Sunday service there. In the meantime, it sure is nice to have the group in Edmond. I can't wait for this weekend.
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