Unlikely Friends

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis

We spent Sunday evening with another family whom we really love. Josh and Paige and their crew of 4 came for supper. Their visits are almost as good as a whole weeks worth of vacation for me. Conversation is always so good and so easy when our families are together. They are a blessing to us in  many ways. I would tell you they are our BFF's but I don't think either of them would even know what that means. In fact if I said something to them like "I am so happy we are friends" they would likely answer "we are unworthy of it" ( while Fred and I would do a quick glance over our shoulders to see who they were speaking to, oh , it was us? We were confused by the 'unworthy' part.) 

What is ironic is that we are such good friends and yet I find it an unlikely match in so many ways. In fact I am certain if you turned Fred and I inside out as a couple you would come up with Josh and Paige.  You see Josh and Paige are both professional thinkers. They are employed at the Mount to think, and they help other young people learn how to think ( as opposed to just telling them what to think). I hear   ( though not ever from either of them) that they do so quite well, and I would expect nothing less. They have often taught me to think about all sorts of things I had no intention of doing so before we began speaking.

If I have a question, they are usually the first people I pester for an answer; though maddeningly if I ask Josh his thoughts on ANY subject matter he turns the tables on me by responding "What a good question, why don't you tell me what you think of it first?" Forcing me to do many more mental push-ups when he could have just answered for me and I would've trusted him. That should tell you that he has integrity, and I am lazy. I do pester poor Josh quite a lot. He also introduced me to port. I  do not really drink, but wow, port is just wonderful. 

Paige on the other hand is just as interesting, if not a tad bit quieter. I have a picture of her that stays in my mind. It was after she lost her grandmother this past October. Josh was away at the time and we took the children to a farm stand with an outdoor area to get some fresh air. I knew she was thinking a good deal about this woman she loved so dearly, but she doesn't talk much, especially in those moments, and I have learned to love that.There was a patch of cut your own flowers and they caught her eye. And while the children played she- for a few beautiful minutes in that deep grief- was swallowed up in a field of vibrant fall colors, and swam and swayed  there as pretty as the prettiest among them. There was something so right about her in that field of flowers. She looked as if she belonged there, as if she had grown there along side them. I hated to see them parted.

 She also likes to cook. This summer she brought by a jar of home-made Damson plum jam.It's the kind without pectin that takes literally hours to cook over a stove. I opened the jar and entered heaven. The next week found us both at a local orchard picking the plums off the trees as if they were liquid gold. We made lots of it. In fact I am almost at the end of my supply and am relishing the last bits still stored away in my cupboard. Every time I open it, I think of her and that wonderful trip from last Summer.

We run our lives so differently too. My house is well - a mess- most days, with kids scrambling in every direction, toys out, noise and technology in every direction. Josh and Paige run one of the most orderly houses I have ever been in. It is a carefully constructed environment that suits them just beautifully. It is quiet, and peaceful, children read and play games, good music floats through the air.

 Yet they are never troubled by the chaotic atmosphere around here. They say they like it. This would be hard for me to believe if I didn't know them to be so honest.

I am not sure how it is possible for the four of us to get along so famously when we have such strikingly different lives, and interests, and skills, but we do. Fred talks about the races and building, and I talk about babies, and they talk about classes and books, and somehow the friendship is light and fun and easy. 

God has been so good to us in this friendship. I am grateful.