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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

friendship

Stories of Friendship: The one next door {guest post by Lisa Betz}

October 3, 2014

Last week, I told you a story of friendship and asked for you to share yours with me. Lisa Betz answered that call with a story of her own. Read on to find out about a special friend in her life. Then head over to Lisa’s blog and read her humorous insights about life.

I was understandably nervous about going off to college, especially since college would be over 1,500 miles away from home. I wasn’t expecting to know anyone, but it turns out there WAS one other entering freshman I knew—a girl from my old hometown who, like me, had moved away during high school. She and I just happened to be assigned to the same hall. (Isn’t God great?)

Having an old friend at the other end of the hall helped me get through those first tough weeks, but she and I were not quite on the same wavelength. I wanted someone who was a kindred spirit, and I found her living next door. By the end of the first month we had become friends. By the end of that first semester we were definitely sidekicks. (Some people confused our names, although we did not look much alike.) Russ and Steve 001

We spent the remaining three years rooming together. We hung out, we shared life (the ups and the downs), we encouraged each other’s faith, and when the stress of studying got out of hand, we baked stuff. Those four years held some of the best memories of my life.

When college was over we parted ways and now Carol lives over 2,000 miles away. We don’t see each other often, but when we do manage to get together, our friendship is right where we left it. Despite our many differences, we are still kindred spirits. And still great friends.

Got a story of friendship to share? E-mail me at lmbartelt (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll share it here on Fridays. Send a picture, too, if you have one!

Filed Under: Friendship Tagged With: friendship

5 on Friday: A few of my favorite things

May 9, 2014

Every once in a while, I find myself enjoying life so much I want to share with you some of the things that are making it enjoyable.

Here are five of my current favorite things:

1. Doctor Who. I know, I know. What took me so long? I was seriously resistant to this but found myself unable to keep resisting. The stories, characters, plots, actions, all of it is entertaining and thought-provoking. I wish I could binge watch but then I’d just have to go back and watch them all again. (No spoilers! We’re not caught up yet!)

fern2. Plants. If you know me, you know I have more of a black thumb than a green one, but it’s slowly turning more brown. This fern was one of my birthday presents, and it makes me happy just looking at it. (Plus, I’m convinced it’s grown inches in a day and I’ve barely touched it. Low-maintenance plants are my sweet spot. I also have a cactus I haven’t managed to kill.) We have the opportunity to plant flowers and/or vegetables at this house and I’m considering a little of both just so we can try it and because it adds so much beauty to our daily lives.

3. MOPS. Another late-to-the-party activity for me. For years I heard so many good things about MOPS but we didn’t have one close to where we lived before. Here, there’s one right down the street, and it’s been a fun year for my son and me. Next year, we’re unlikely to participate because he’ll be in preschool and I’ll have a few hours a week to myself. But I wish I’d had more time with MOPS. If you’re a mom of a baby/toddler/preschooler, I wholeheartedly recommend MOPS for your sanity. Check the website to see if there’s one near you.

4. Home improvement. Okay, so we don’t own a home, but this place we’re renting has given us a lot of opportunity to pretend we do. In the past few weeks, we’ve done some serious cleaning and made some small improvements. The result is feeling like we live in a whole new place. Taking care of a home, even when it’s not yours, is satisfying work.

5. Friends. We have yet to live here a full year and we have some rich and rewarding friendships already. Add those to the many we’ve developed along the way, and our friendship cups are overflowing. I say this not to brag but to praise God. We love our families dearly and miss them like crazy, but it would be a thousand times worse if we didn’t have some amazing friends. We are moving into a phase where we have entire families we can hang out with, couples in similar parenting stages, younger couples, singles and older couples who’ve “been there.” Friends are a treasure I don’t often consider, and we are thankful to call so many wonderful people “friends.”

I’m sure I could list more, but these are the standouts right now.

How about you? What are some of your favorite things lately?

Filed Under: 5 on Friday Tagged With: doctor who, favorite things, friendship, gardening, home improvement, MOPS, motherhood, plants

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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