Friends

When I started working part-time after Addie was born (she was six months old), my mother-in-law would take care of her. But she went abroad for a couple of weeks and I had no one to take care of Addie. So I sent out an email to random friends I thought might be available, asking for volunteers. I think it was my husband's idea. I felt needy and bad for asking people to take care of my baby.

But then something amazing happened. All these people volunteered. And they were really excited about it. And nice about it. I was humbled. I would barely have time to drop her off and pick her up... and never ended up showing those people how much I appreciated it. But they were SO NICE. Most of them, I realized afterwards, were religious. Most of them I had met through our youth group or other church groups.

One of my friends sent me this picture above saying Google had told her two years passed since she had taken care of Addie for me. So much has changed in those two years, it's incredible. But I learned a lot in opening up and asking for help... God is generous and really does help. And creating community and friendship is possible... even in a big city, even in a workaholic world, even when you feel very lonely and forgotten.