Happy Friendsgiving!

Have you ever made a new friend only to look back and realize that God's hand divinely put that person in your life through a series of missteps and "off timing"?  Let me explain.  There have been a handful of times in my life where I've met someone special, only to realize that, left to my own plans, our paths would never have crossed.  This year, I felt so strongly that celebrating these friendships was important.  So together with Mackenzie, we planned a special Friendsgiving Playdate.

 

 

This past January I enrolled Mack in a theatre class at our local rec center.  For anyone who has met Mack for even a millisecond, you know that this girl needs to be on a stage.  She lives for performing and being the center of attention. She was counting down the day until her first class like it was Christmas.  So you can imagine both of our disappointments when, just days before the start of the class, I received a phone call to say that the class had been canceled due to low sign up volume. I reluctantly chose a ballet class for her instead in an effort to boost her spirits. Truthfully though, we were both pretty disappointed.  She had done ballet before and we were excited for her to try something new. 

 

 

Fast forward to the first day of ballet class... I remember rushing in with an armload of kid stuff -- Ballet clothes for Mackenzie, trains and trucks and snacks for Levi.  This is just what you do when you have a 2 year old boy to entertain for an hour while his big sister dances.  This was the day I met Kendall, Mayci and Reid. 

 

 

For the next 5 weeks Kendall and I connected over breaking up wrestling matches between our two year old boys who refused to share toys and loved to steal one another's snacks.  We watched our 6 year old daughters dance and twirl from the glass window and traded stories of our motherhood journeys so far. All the while not really realizing the significance of the friendship we were forming.

 

 

Side note -- On the menu for this Friendsgiving Celebration was Not Yo Momma's Chicken Noodle Soup (Get the recipe from this post), adorable mini cornish hens, fruit salad, veggies, deviled eggs and Apple Frickin' Pie (get the recipe from this post).  And of course, spiced cider and red wine for the mommas.

 

 

 

 

 

Not Yo Momma's Chicken Noodle Soup & Apple Frickin' Pie



 

 

Almost everything on this table with the exception of the red roses and the glass pumpkin came from the dollar store.  The dollar store is my "go to" for holiday décor and it can be done classy.  You can read my Memorial Day post for more dollar store decorating tips!

 

 

 

It's been 10 months since meeting Kendall and I look back now and thank God that Mackenzie's theatre class was canceled last January.  Kendall has not only become one of my very best friends but her two sisters Lauren and Jordan are becoming two of my closest friends as well.  That's three divinely orchestrated friendships that I almost missed out on. 

 

 

 

The story doesn't end there though.  Mackenzie is now classmates with Macyi and Eden who are Kendall and Lauren's daughters.  And Levi is making friends with all of the younger cousins.  Had I not met Kendall, Mackenzie would not be attending a school that we absolutely love and is only 10 minutes from our home.  Points to you if you are still following this post, ha!

These three sisters are some of the most kind and generous women I know.  I'm so thankful that God chose to cross our paths and bring our family these beautiful friends.

(From left to right -- Kendall, Baby Eddie, Jordan & Lauren) (Mackenzie, Mayci & Eden)

 

 

Take some time this week to say a prayer of thanks for the friendships you didn't go looking for.  I am just so thankful that God sees the bigger picture when I'm only looking at the details of the "here and now".  God sure knew I needed the Stiller girls in my life.

 

The happiest of Friend and Thanksgivings to you this week!