the gift of thursday nights

for jon's 3oth birthday millie and micah got him the best present for a person who is sooooooooo hard to get presents for. they gave him, and essentially me too, the gift of thursday nights. so every thursday night we have off. no curfew, no kids, and no guilt of kids left at home. they have fun with our kids because they don't have their own and we have fun with each other. what's ironic is that lately we've been home by about 9:00 and last night we even took isaac with us. we went bowling.

i have to say however, that along with spending time alone with jon, i've discovered another gift of thursday nights: talking with camille. it's inevitable. girls talk. and when you add the factor of close sisters into the equation, we talk for hours.

we talk about relationships, how to foster them and nurture them and heal them. we talk about kiddos and having them and raising them. we talk about faith and fear and hope. she's taught me so much from our thursday night sessions. she's taught me sincerity and patience and realness and long-suffering. it changes how i think about myself and how i interact with those i love and how i think about those i love and how i pray for them more. so i guess you could say happy birthday to me too. thanks aunt mildew.