Saying Good-Bye

I met a girl while attending Rhema Bible School- back in the 1999-2000 school year. Her name is Amanda. We became great friends! We both got married to our loves in 2002. Then in 2004, we both got pregnant (only about 3 weeks apart)! Xander and her daughter, Abbey, were born in the summer of 2005. And they have been best friends ever since. When we'd go out with them together, people would always stop us and ask if they were twins (LOL...little did I know that 3 years later, I would, in fact, have twins...hahaha)! Amanda and I went out all the time- alone and with our kids. We had the best of times!

In 2007, "Baby Asher" came along, and it made it a LITTLE more difficult to hang out... but we still did! This pictures was taken when Asher was only a couple of months old... and Xander/Abbey were 2 1/2 years old! So cute, huh?
Anyways, when I had the twins, as you can probably imagine, we didn't get to hang out much at all! It was just too hard to coordinate schedules and/or meet with all the kids... it seemed too hard anyways! So, sadly, our times together were limited.... BUT we still managed to talk and/or hang out every 2-3 months (nothing at all like every 1-2 weeks like in the past)!!

Then, something BIG happened. Her husband got a job offer in Iowa. YES, Iowa. "What's in Iowa?" you might ask? John Deere is there... and they were hiring welders. SO... he moved to Iowa to start his job and find a place for them to live, so that when school is complete (Abbey finishes this week) then they can move up there with him!

So, in the last 3 months, we've made it a point to get together every week. We wanted the kiddos to have time together...and for us to be able to get together as much as possible before she moves. Here's some pictures of the three big kids over the last few weeks! It's funny how in some of the pictures Xander looks much shorter than Abbey, but in "real" life, they have been about the same size... since they were about a year old. They're both tall for their age... and have always been almost identical in stature...it's no wonder people though they were twins! I like the picture below...compared to the picture above... it's cool to see how much these three have grown up!!

Finally, here's our last picture together-- me and my Amanda!
I'm going out with her tomorrow as our "last hoorah" before she moves- they will be leaving Tulsa this Sunday :( Xander gave Abbey his stuffed puppy dog "so she'll always remember" him! Too sweet! I'll miss my friend...Xander will miss his friend!

"Here is where the road divides.
Here is where we realize
The sculpting of our Father's great design.
Through time you've been a friend to me
But time is now the enemy.
I wish we didn't have to say good-bye.
But I know, the road He chose for me is not the road He chose for you.
So as we chase the dreams we're after:

Pray for me, and I'll pray for you.
Pray that we will keep the common ground.
Won't you pray for me, and I'll pray for you.
And one day love will bring us back around....again!"
(Michael W. Smith)