This morning, I woke up pretty early. By 8am, the neighbours started banging on whatever home reno project they have going on. I was annoyed for a split second, but then I checked myself. I was relaxed and happy. It was the third morning that I was waking up in Hope with my best friend. A little noise was NOT going to ruin my gratitude and joy. So, instead I got up early to make breakfast. Because I was up early, we were actually able to have a leisurely breakfast before our regular Thursday morning Bible study over zoom with 8 others. My Thursday mornings are usually far from leisurely. But today I had even showered, dressed and put on some makeup before the meeting, lol! Do you know how many zoom meetings I have done in pajamas??? But I digress...
When the discussion ended, we finished cleaning and packing up. We took a few more moments to enjoy the peace and beauty of the creek and then headed toward home. On the way, we stopped for lunch at The Italian. One of the "blessings" of COVID, is that there are still a lot of people who are hesitant to eat out. That means that we were able to just walk in to a popular restaurant and get seated right away without a reservation. In fact, we have been able to do this a lot lately. Anyway, my gnocchi was delicious, like always. Before heading back on the highway, we got some Starbucks. You know what's better than Starbucks coffee? Free Starbucks coffee. Their system wasn't working properly, so the barista decided to just give us our coffees. They were extra delicious.
So, now I am home and that feels good too. I did miss my family. Emmi was so thrilled to see me and I'll be happy to sleep in my own bed. But, what a great four days in Hope. The weather, the company, the house; it was all perfect. This was the first time I had gone away with this particular friend. I wondered whether we would travel well together. I do have some friends I would never take a trip with, we just don't travel well together even though we're friends. Needless to say, I was worried for nothing and our time together was easy and perfect. Last night we had one of those sacred moments of conversation and prayer between friends that I can't even find the words to blog about. And I wouldn't want to even if I could. Have I mentioned how very blessed I am?
