One of the biggest blessings of our life –– especially in the past few years –– has been our friendship with these two. Even though Anna and Ryan live on the East Coast and we live on the West Coast (BEST Coast), we’ve realized that distance doesn’t have to be a barrier to real connection and deep friendship in today’s world. Thank goodness for technologies that just didn’t exist in our parents’ generation (except on The Jetsons!)
Like random, late-night, FaceTime dates that go until none of us can keep our eyes open.
Or ongoing, pee-your-pants-funny, group text threads, that are layered with so many inside jokes that we can’t remember how they got started, but don’t care; because the important thing is that we don’t want them to end.
And they won’t. (Partly because we’re going to force our sons to be best friends, and that will keep us tied together!) But mostly because, as it turns out, like the country song goes: too much of a good thing… is a good thing.
And these two are the best thing.
Anna and Ryan, as simple as it sounds, thank you for being our friends. We probably don’t say that enough. And all jokes aside, whether our boys become best friends or not, our prayer is that they’d learn what real friendship looks like… through ours. That they’d understand the paradox of it, so when it happens to them, they’d be able to find it, and keep it. Because true, pure friendship in its strongest, most honest form is, indeed, a paradox. It doesn’t make sense. But it makes all the sense in the world. It’s intentional, but effortless. Time-consuming, but no burden. Intentional work, yet easy and light. Challenging, yet gentle. Completely vulnerable, yet totally safe. Bound together at its most durable and enduring point by something we can’t see but is always there: our mutual love for each other and for Jesus.
That’s what made this trip to Washington D.C. for the grand opening on the Museum the Bible extra special for us –– especially since we had to cancel a trip to NORWAY and SCOTLAND together because of Amy’s morning sickness. And based on the final photos, you would never know that it was freezing cold and windy just like it was when we did your photos (and you did ours) on Driftwood Beach in St. Simons Island earlier this year. On that trip, we never could’ve imagined getting to have baby boys weeks apart from each other, and walking into the next phase of life so side-by-side. God is good regardless of our circumstances –– we know that, and so do you –– but we’re extra thankful this Christmas season that this was His plan for our friendship with you.
We cannot WAIT to meet your sweet baby boy, and introduce him to ours! Thank you Lord for this beautiful season that we’re so blessed to share!
P.S. Were we shooting a CELEB COUPLE or our real life friends?! Still not 100% sure…