When we moved to Illinois, I expected a lot of things.
I expected…to only be here until Tobin could find a job in Minnesota and we could move home.
I expected…I would never like it.
I hoped…I was wrong.
The first few weeks lived up to my expectations. My life was baby-baby-baby, and the only time I even stepped outside was to either let the dogs out or to go to Target to get more necessities for setting up a house.
All that changed on a Monday night about three weeks after we moved in.
There was a knock at our door. A neighbor was stopping over to invite me to a Bible study at her church that Thursday morning. Really, I’m surprised she didn’t run away because she got quite the greeting from Andre and Sam. 
I was feeding Mae when she was here so I couldn’t even say hi to her.
But she had sent a nice note with directions to the church, letting me know she’d love for me to come if I wanted to.
I hesitated…because this?
Was not what I expected.
But I somehow found some courage and let Tobin talk me into going over to talk to her Wednesday night. I’ve never told her how nervous I was about that.
We ended up talking for over an hour.
And that night, I let it enter my mind that maybe I could like it here.
She gave me and Maelie a ride the next morning. I was overwhelmed when I walked into the room…there were a lot of people. But there were also?
Twin baby girls, three weeks older than Mae.
Coincidence?
I think I needed a little reassurance, not just for me, but for Maelie, too.
I loved these women immediately, though it took me a few weeks to actually talk. But I kept going back because I felt safe. And, because I hoped that maybe…maybe…they’d want to be friends.
God shattered my expectations with this group of women, who I am now blessed to call my friends. We laugh, we cry, we have good times, we have girls’ nights out sometimes…they are so much a part of what makes my life here happy. They made it ok for me to get out of bed in the morning and smile because I knew Thursday was coming, whether it was one day away or six. (And I wish I had a picture of them all! I’ll get one. Soon.)
God shattered my expectations with this group of women, who I am now blessed to call my friends. We laugh, we cry, we have good times, we have girls’ nights out sometimes…they are so much a part of what makes my life here happy. They made it ok for me to get out of bed in the morning and smile because I knew Thursday was coming, whether it was one day away or six. (And I wish I had a picture of them all! I’ll get one. Soon.)
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