People

If I were to sum up the past four days in one word, it'd be people.

Because in the usual day, I only interact face-to-face with an average of six people, and this weekend has been more like six hundred. It's also been a good time to realize what this life is about.

Jesus and His people. 

This weekend, our friends, Eric and Maria were participating in an art show called Arts in Bloom. They needed some help so they asked me if I'd like to spend the weekend with them, to which I enthusiastically responded: yes!

We were set up at what I'd call an art home named Beulah Land, a place of art for everyone. "Interesting" isn't a good enough word...'spectacular' maybe a little more so. However you want to call it, it's Beulah Land and it's great. I was given a tour of the farmhouse and then aided Maria in setting up her watercolor paintings and helped Eric arrange his pottery. People filtered in and out the door: everyone was welcome and everyone came.  The day was spent on my feet washing dishes, refilling the plates with cookies and muffins, and even hanging laundry. The sun was gorgeous and the air so fresh. Beulah Land seemed magical and if you had been there, you would agree.

That was all of Saturday. Maria and I finished the day by finding out that you should never bake when you're half asleep.  :)

Sunday morning dawned peacefully on Market Street, despite all the noise of the bar and restaurant beneath their apartment the night before, I'd been able to sleep well--but definitely not enough. This became noticeable to me as soon as I arrived at church and was surrounded by some of my favorite people. My usual ability to juggle seven people, events, and catastrophes at once was completely absent and in its place was a terribly confused and tired girl.

But God's grace covered all of that, so let's get back to Beulah Land.

It was quiet when Eric, Maria, and I arrived after church. We set up again and then I spent about 30 minutes just sitting, sipping my tea, and praying. I was given the strength to endure throughout the rest of the afternoon, but as soon as I got home I realized that I was about to fall over. And that was Sunday.

Monday, however, made me realize something even more. Though I had interacted with a billion different people in the past two days and was more than ready to be a hermit, people is what this life is made of. And you don't realize that till you're standing in front of some glass doors at the airport, looking eagerly past shoulders and jumping up and down as you try to see the people get off the airplane. And suddenly three amazing and wonderful people burst through those glass doors and everyone cheers and you're together again. And all you can do is hug everyone and close your eyes and soak in the humbling truth.

Families belong together. And life is made up of people. Each person holds a specific part of your hear that can't be filled by anyone else. Not anyone. We need each other. 

So when my older sister Mattea and my friends, Josiah and Mikaela, finally came home after three months and we were all reunited...I discovered that no matter what you tell yourself, every person is irreplaceable.

And I like it that way.