It is not often that the Brays dine with friends. I'd venture to say that we almost never do this. We have invited several exchange students over to our home to eat. But rarely do we sit down with another family at meal time.
Tonight was an exception. Some very good friends of ours lost their mother/grandmother over the weekend. It's been a very rough year and the third significant loss for them. Our hearts have been broken, we've cried heavy tears and prayed fervently for God to carry this sweet family through one more trial.
Because I'm a Southerner, one of my first thoughts go to food. We have to take them dinner. So I texted my sweet friend who took on the task of assigning meals to this family and requested that we be put on this list for tonight.
When we spoke on the phone earlier today to discuss other funeral/obituary type stuff, they insisted that we join them for dinner. It wasn't just a polite invite. It was a "from the heart" invite that we simply could not turn down. I accepted the invitation on behalf of my family.
I am SO glad we did. It was a fun time of laughter and smiles. Our boys were, for the most part, on pretty good behavior. They did "boy" things that made our friends giggle. It was so refreshing to see the smiles on their faces and to hear them laugh.
Death is hard, y'all. Not because of no hope. There have been some beautiful reunions in Heaven. And we know that these earthly losses are merely "see you laters." It's just hard on the hearts left behind. We long for one more conversation, one more smile, one more hug, one more...
Please be in prayer for our friends. They're pretty special to us.
Tonight was a good reminder. We need to slow down and have dinner with friends more often. Even on school nights. Life is too short to neglect our friends.
Tonight - - my heart is full.
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