11 Precious days

Here I sit in a cozy room, Hem's sweet melodies playing in the background, and an area heater warming my feet. Sounds great, right? But when I look to my right, I am reminded that something's missing; the chair next to me is empty. The last 11 days have been wonderful. My family and I had the privilege of hosting a very dear friend of mine. She called me on New Years day wondering if she could stay the night. The night turned into another, and another and another. I was pumped! The first couple nights were filled with laughter, and silliness. The others were also, but the first night held the most as we would lay in that double bed continually saying good night after breaking multiple promises of  "okay, now we're really going to bed!" We would always find one more thing to say, which usually lead into a whole other conversation and another round of laughing. Once to the point where we would throw back the covers, race down the stairs, across the freezing driveway, and into the house where Sadie would meet us in the kitchen telling us she could hear us coming before we even got to the house. We had to "go", of course...again. As the days wore on, we continued with our schedules as usual, hoping, though, that they would permit us to be home at the same time often. Stories were told around the dinner table allowing us to learn even more about one another and our families. Prayers were sent to Heaven as we longed for the weather men to be correct when they said, "4 inches by the morning." Of course they never were. Although, one morning was postponed a little which provided time for a cup of coffee and some scripture reading together while the rest of the household was still snoozin'. Even though she still had to trek through the snow for work, the morning together was sweet, and I'll always remember it. The last night of her stay was good. We sat in the room I am in now- the same heater at our feet- taking advantage of the time we had alone to talk about some things for a couple of hours. By the time I had helped her carry some things to the car this evening, I was ready to bring  it all back in and do it all over again. So, friend, please know that you are always welcome in this home. As far as I'm concerned it belongs to the Lord; we just happen to be the ones He chose to live in it. Remember what my folks told you? The last 11 days is the very reason we have a house.