Live Healthy Iowa

 We spent the past weekend in Kansas City for a volleyball tournament with Precious and a club team she is playing with this winter/spring.  Kansas City is such a beautiful city with so much ethnic and cultural diversity. I told Precious I don't think we have ever spent time like this with so many different races and ethnicities that were all together for a common reason.....girls volleyball.  She fit right in...and so did we.  It was amazing and inspiring.  I'm so grateful.  

    Sunday morning we went down for breakfast at the hotel.  A woman stopped me in the breakfast lounge because she wanted to ask me about my t-shirt.  It was a Live Healthy Iowa t-shirt from a few years ago.  She asked if I was from Iowa...she has a daughter who goes to college at Iowa State....we chatted a bit.  She was sitting with her son and I commented that I really liked his hair.  I had noticed his braids and was impressed with the style.  She thanked me and said she had braided it this morning....I asked her if she was also here for volleyball for the weekend.  

    She wasn't at the hotel for volleyball.  She was their because her home had burned down in a fire in November and she had nowhere to go.  She and her 10 year old son had been at the hotel for about 6 weeks....and I asked her if I could sit down with her to talk  She and I talked for quite awhile.  I told her I had another friend who had lost her home in a house fire....and we talked about Jesus.  She is a believer and she is waiting on the Lord to help her as well as trusting that this challenge will make them stronger.  We talked about a lot of things....and I asked her if I could have her phone number.  I invited her to come to IOwa and relocate to my community....offered to help her get resettled....probably freaked her out but that's how I roll. 

    I hope she decides to move to IOwa and come to my community.  I want to be her friend.  I want her son to be friends with my son and I want them to live, work and play here with us.  Her name is Dara.  Would you pray for her?

    Tonight I was chatting with my young friend whose house burned down last year in the spring.  I told her about my new friend Dara.  She immediately wanted to help her.....send money....offer her a place to stay.....and my eyes swelled with tears because we three women, we get eachother.  We understand.  We all take our turn with the hard things and sometimes even in the midst of the hard things we can extend a hand, a hug, a scripture, a prayer....and I am so tightly woven together with these 2 other women right now that I can almost feel the Holy Spirit in the weaving.   In my ideal world, they would both move to my town and we could start a thing together....a really cool and important and God-glory thing....but for tonight I will be satisfied with swapping phone numbers and sharing encouraging words....

    Go to the volleyball tournaments that seem like a lot of work and too much money.

    Talk to the people in the breakfast room.

    Wonder with the Lord, and what amazing and creative and beautiful friendships might emerge.

    Wear the t-shirt.

    Pay attention.

    Be grateful.