I'm not mad.
I mean, you WON, but I guess that was always going to be the case with your something-in-the-water way you addict people who were born there to yourself.
So, instead of being a bad sport, or whining, or crying about it, I'm going to make sure you know what you're gaining:
You're gaining a person who is just the right kind of friend. The kind of friend who drops everything for you. The friend who knows when silence needs to be silence and when silence needs to be broken with some laughter. The friend who knows when you just need to cry. She's the one who is crazy-busy, but is constantly sitting in her car, catching up with a friend who lives far away in her few spare minutes before she has to lead 348 elementary school students in learning about dynamics. Because it's that important to her. The type of friend who teaches everyone around her something about real friendship.
You're gaining a person who loves her family. Loves them so much she chooses them over everything else. Many times. She loves them so much she chooses to go through this emotionally-draining exodus of Louisville, with prolonged goodbyes and tearful cheers and heart-wrenching hugs and exhaustion, to be near them. And to those of you who aren't her family, this point may not feel like much of a blessing, but let me assure you it is. When you see her unshakeable devotion, it almost startles you at first, and then blesses and blesses and blesses and blesses you. And challenges you. In the best way.
You're gaining a person who is constantly learning about herself. Not in an I-need-to-discover-myself-by-backpacking-through-the-hills-of-Spain sort of way (though I think she would probably be up for that), but through life. She isn't taking a break from life to figure herself out. She's learning about herself by going through life. She doesn't just stop thinking and pondering and growing because she's got to workout, and cook, and teach 2,472 kids in a kazoo seminar, and meet her Bible study leader for dinner, and paint something for her walls at home and meet another friend for coffee that night. No, sir. Always growing, always listening... for God's call. Watch closely, Kansans. Amazing work is being done there.
You're gaining a person who is crazy-fun-from-another-planet. (the fun is from another plant, not her) Staycation is fun. Road trips are fun. Hay rides are fun. Sleepovers are fun. Pool days are fun. Wrangling little church kids is fun. 4am airport pickups are fun. Video hunting is fun. Eating a bagel is fun. Shoveling dirt in 97-degree heat with chili on your stomach is fun. It's her laugh. It's her sense of humor. It's her smile. Utterly and irresistibly contagious.
You're gaining a person who is.the.definition.of: SHINE. Sure, people who are opera singers and performers know how to shine, and, trust me, I've been blessed to see her perform a few times, and she's shining then - but in a different way. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the shine that seems like it's coming from UNDERNEATH her skin. It's there when you're enjoying a beautiful, sun-kissed day at Huber's, but it's also there when you're sitting at a Chinese bistro, pouring out your heartbreak about a conflict in your family, and seeing her cry out of sheer sympathy. Shine. It's there even when she's exhausted. Even when she's sad. It's a shine that puts hot pink stilettos, mascara, glitter, hairspray and Bedazzlers to shame.
So, People Who Live in Kansas, don't overlook this treasure you're gaining. Don't take it for granted.
You may have won, but I won too. We all have.
Love,
Steph
