SaraLittlejohn.com: less words..more pictures!

i have dreaded this post. not in a bad way, but in a "this is going to be a really emotional post!" i'm crying already, if that's any indicator how hard this post is for me. YIKES! the following pictures really chronicle our life for the last year. lots and lots of life has been shared this last year with our dear friends the Bentz's; Dave, Chris, Joe, Katie, Kellie, and Tim. and "lots of life" is a bad understatement. not only have we spent insane amounts of hours together, we have walked through a lot of really difficult things together.

it is no secret mark had a really rough medical year last year, and dave particularly walked through 2 of the worst days of our lives with us. while, those two days were awful, (really awful!) it allowed us to forge a really deep connection and friendship.

not only did mark have a rough year, but obviously i have been working through piles of grief with my mom. and at just the right time God brought Chris into my life. when you are 29 years old, you are rarely surrounded by other people your age who are losing their moms. and that has been one of the HARDEST parts about this disease, feeling really alone. but like i said, God saw fit to bring Chris into my life. Chris lost her mom 3 years ago to cancer. and the compassion and the understanding in chris's eyes, have brought such healing to me during this time. she gets it. i never have to explain much, she just gets it. chris, you have been such a gift to me.

so, not only have mark and i found amazing friends in dave and chris, our eight children have also found something really special in one another. i teach the bentz kids piano, they all attend homeschool PE together, we go to small group together and church together.. so that's a minimum of five times a week that our kids are together. they interact a lot like siblings now. they've irritated each other and worked through conflict...like siblings. katie and kellie have been such sweet role models for my girls, and joe and tim have taken AJ under their wing and balanced out all the female hormones in our house. anderson has a permanent pack-n-play set up in dave and chris's room, and there is stack of diapers in the laundry room just for him.

God richly poured out His favor on us when he allowed us to be in king george, and befriend the bentz. to have friends that intentionally, unconditionally, and consistently minister to you through word and deed is such a beautiful picture of why we were called to fellowship.

while our sights are set on kansas, SO much of our hearts will remain here. i am not quite ready to do life without our friends. i don't know who will feed us, not-pray over food with us, take care of kids when we aren't looking, laugh uncontrollable with us, help solve our marital conflicts (or start our martial conflicts), and simply do life with us. life can suck really bad at times, but with friends like these, there are such sweet moments that foreshadow what eternity will be like.

"thank you" is not nearly sufficient!