I am dubbing today Friendship Friday!
Because, after all, every soul thrives on friendship and mine is no exception. I need my girls!
I’m hoping Friendship Friday can be a way to honor the gals that God has brought across my path who have changed my world, my perspective and my life.
There are too many amazing women in my life to count. But I’d like to start with the women who are here in the Pleasanton Tri-Valley area who are so vital to the budding life of The Jarvis House. The women who pray, who encourage me, who hold me accountable, who love me enough to tell me the hard stuff and who all want to be part of what God has in His endlessly creative mind for this ministry.
On the Fridays I’m able, I’d like to introduce you to some of these women. I hope you’re lucky enough to meet them one day. And not necessarily at my funeral. 🙂
Today, I’m going to start with my friend, Laura.
This girl. For real. She rocks.
I met her a year ago when a friend introduced us. She was recommended to help me start a new blog that resembled something a little less “ten years ago” and a little more focused.
Little did she know who she was dealing with….
We hit it off immediately. She’s not just a giant brain. She also has a wicked smart sense of humor and a huge heart. I should have been scared to death of this creature. But I really really liked her. And I think she thought I was okay, too.
And this served as a problem.
We’d get together and chat the time away and realize we hadn’t gotten any work done. One conversation would lead to another and we’d find ourselves out of time for our session. But while a blog was supposed to be emerging, it was clear that God was more interested in the friendship that was forming.
It wasn’t just our talkative faces that slowed us down, though. Life happened and interrupted us many times. Her life. My life. So we would have to cancel and reschedule more often than either of us would have liked.
Another issue with getting this thing out there? My lack of knowledge when it comes to anything technical. I don’t understand the lingo, the inner workings of the internet or the power of social networking. I. Had. No. Idea.
So each time Laura met with me, it was like she was dealing with a preschooler. Make that a preschooler with ADHD. Someone who was eager to learn but had the attention span of a gnat and no technical background whatsoever. Unfortunately, unlike a preschooler, my mind was not soaking up everything she showed me like a sponge. What’s the opposite of a sponge?
Patience of a saint, this one.
I love her dearly. She has and continues to teach me so much about writing, marketing, and all things computer-ish. My lengthened attention span and clearer focus are her doing. But more than anything, she teaches me about life just by how she lives. She’s a stud at looking obstacles in the face and beating them into submission. She is a great example of strong faith mixed with hysterical humor. She is the kind of encourager that believes in you more than you believe in yourself. She inspires with her fantastic word pictures and her contagious excitement. She’s beautifully imperfect and isn’t afraid to tell you so.
She’s my favorite kind of people. 🙂
Well, the new blog is up now. It seemed to take forever, but it has clearly been God’s timing. It’s still in the beginning stages, but Laura is helping me learn something new each day so that it can be used to its greatest potential to tell people about Jesus and His love for them.
After a 12 month journey together, it seemed only fitting that she should be the first person to sign “the why” wall, in this converted garage where I write and meet with women. She is “the why” any of this could happen in the first place.
Here’s to you, sweet Laura. Thanks for biting off more than you could chew with me and for not spitting me right back out. It means the world.
Thanks for helping me launch My Father’s House and helping me believe that God has a bigger plan than my little brain can conceive. Thanks for believing in me and for me when I couldn’t do it for myself.
Love you, friend – xoxoxo
J
