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This past week has been one of the busiest weeks I’ve had all year. I was quite exhausted when I arrived home after Bible study on Friday and barely crawled out of bed on Saturday for Wendy Lee’s jewelry open house before prepping for tomorrow’s potluck and heading out to plant trees with SoundForrest, not to mention my impromptu meeting with one of Nashville’s fame architects, tea at Fido with Katie, a few hours taking care of Fletcher, and then home to continue my packing. I’ve come to realize that working that much is neither physically healthy for me nor relationally (thankfully, even though I was super hectic, I was able to spend quite a lot of time in the Word and in prayer.) 

Physically–while I was able to eat mostly organically this week, I was barely able to work twice and I barely slept. This is about to change soon. This sound childish, but I’ve set a curfew for myself for the next week or two in order to ‘catch up’ on some sleep.

But what really matters through this past week’s crazy schedule is that I am a reporter. Now, I’ve always known (or have been reminded of) that I am talker. I am more than an avid verbal processor and more than ‘talkative.’ I can talk for hours–days, even. The point of this is that while I have been consumed in work, I have not had a lot of time to spend with my friends and thus, I have had a lot of quiet time to myself. To a certain extent, this has been “good” because I have needed time to be quiet. Yet, I do not feel fully myself when I am unable to communicate with others–and not just ‘small talk.’ While I think I have mastered the art of small talk, I truly treasure in-depth conversations and discussions. I can talk for hours about nothing and share stories from my day, but I truly treasure real conversations that show one’s true self, passions, and heart. I have missed that this week and a friend reminded me of that last night and I mulled it over as I drove home from the suburbs. I was reminded of it again over tea with Katie. This wonderful woman, who is seeking God’s will for her life as she earns her M.D. at Vandy, opened up to me Saturday evening and I nearly teared up at how much God blesses me with the friends I have.

Yes, we talked about silly things, like when I cried over driving over a squirrel last year and her trip to Kentucky for Thanksgiving, but we ultimately had some wonderful in-depth conversations about what really matters to us, what we struggle with, and et al. Through our Fido visits and dinners, Katie and I have talked and gotten to know each other (thanks, initially, to our women’s pastor, Kim Thomas), and it really isn’t just our conversations that have created our friendship–it’s God. Katie mentioned it near the end of my tea and her omelet. It’s not just talk when God is an active part of our lives–a simple lesson, but one I won’t quickly forget.