I sit here this evening a happy woman. I am delighted to say that the baby shower for Lauren was a HUGE success. I think there were over 50 people here today, and there is no greater feeling than hearing the happy buzz of voices drifting on the air from women who mean so much to you.
It was wonderful to see the rooms of this old house filled with women whose faces were alight with the glow of fellowship, food and celebration. Lauren literally did not move as she opened gift after gift after gift. My mom was so moved to see her friends arrive in droves to honor her, their friendship and now her daughters-in-law. It was so incredible for me, as Donna's oldest daughter, to see as well. I hope someday to have amassed my own network of women whose lives are irrevocably bound by layers upon layers of love, history, time, tears, laughter, fellowship and most of all a common love for Jesus Christ.

During our lifetime, we are blessed if we are able to see our lives connect with other women in what can only be categorized as a quilt of relationships. Different women, different personalities, different interests, different passions, different everything, yet if we choose to invest the time and energy, little threads begin to weave in and among us, tying our hearts to each other's. We share each other's joys - weddings, births, birthdays, anniversaries - and cry for each other's hurts - deaths, divorces, loss of parents and grandparents, miscarriages - and spend time together as our kids are born and grow and change. We work out together, sweating and huffing and puffing. We study the Word together, side by side struggling to climb the narrow path God sets before us. We hug and absorb the sweetness that is the touch of another soul. We smile and share the beauty that is joy being transferred through the air.
And over time, that quilt is there to wrap around us in cold, dark days...as a source of strength, comfort, familiarity and solidarity. And it's a legacy. My mom has such a legacy and I saw it in action today. And it made me proud of her. I stood in the kitchen discussing such a legacy with my friend, Carol. We remembered all the days our moms spent together being young moms and we marveled at the fact that we were now having our turn. And hoping that our little girls would someday be able to rejoice in the legacy of friends we leave to them.
So, amidst cupcakes, Oreo balls, spinach dip, fruit and veggie trays, something greater than just an exchange of gifts took place here today. And I am proud to say that I stretched out my arms to grab the edges of that legacy of friends, of godly women, and wrapped it all around me, taking in the sweet aroma of friendship and inhaling deeply.