hopeful
barlow_girl and I tried 22 Doors for dinner (yum!), then headed to our first Last Friday at shemaiah's. Good company, sparkling conversation, and great wine and cheese. We were briefly able to meet some new people—regrettably, we chose to sit on the opposite side of the room from some of the people we hadn't met, but we were still able to have a bit of across-the-room conversation with them, and that's a good start. velouria73 brought some delicious chocolates for us to all enjoy, and friends from our 
communitygroup and church stayed a little later. When we left (with Nathan in tow), Becca, Ponch, and the Guppy trio were still having a great time with Shemaiah, and as an added bonus, we got to see jg_of_la in a rare study break on the way out.It may seem silly, but I'm terribly excited for Amy this morning: she's getting together with a small group of women from church to talk about being involved more deeply in one another's lives and their shared walk with Jesus. That kind of intentionality and commitment is beautiful. None of us needs more programs or meetings; what we need are relationships like this, that at once knit us together and live into a story larger than ourselves. And I use the word "need" intentionally—we need it, and I thank God for when He gives us the humility to admit it and the courage to do something about it. I'm grateful for what I have, but on the deepest levels, that's an area where there's been a void for years.
Plenty to catch up on today, so I'm going to get to it.
