retainers are sort of like paint brushes

in eighth grade, my family moved almost a thousand miles across the country for my dad's job. i wasn't exactly happy about being uprooted and torn away from the friends that i had grown up with and had planned on going to high school with, but i didn't have much of a choice. thankfully, there was a group of girls in the eighth grade who welcomed me into their group with open arms. they let me sit with them at lunch, invited me to sleep overs and even helped me sign up at the dance school where a few of them took classes. i was extremely grateful for their friendship, so when one of them accidentally threw her retainer away one day, i jumped at the chance to show my loyalty by helping her dig through giant lunchroom trash cans in search of her glittery, pink retainer.

even though the lunch ladies provided us with plastic gloves, digging through soggy pizza crusts and tater tots soaked in leftover chocolate milk was just about one of the most disgusting things that i had ever done in my life up to that point. i didn't care, though, because my friend and i were laughing and gagging together and that's what friends did. after going through about three trash cans, we finally found her retainer. she wrapped it up in a napkin and put it in her book bag where it would stay until she could completely sanitize it at home. if it had been me, i would have just begged my parents for a new one...

anyhow, this past saturday, a friend came over to our house and did the unthinkable. she picked up a paintbrush and a roller and finished painting one of our front rooms for us. i haven't been able to stand the smell of paint since becoming pregnant and the "red room" had become a sort of mental block for LH and i. for whatever reason, neither one of us had been able to take the 30-45 minutes needed to finish cutting-in above the doorway and rolling a second coat over what was already painted. our friend knew about this problem, and had offered numerous times to come over and help. i finally picked up the phone on saturday morning and sheepishly asked if she would come over and help us finish the room. not only did she say yes, but she came over within an hour and had a smile on her face! she told us that she loves to paint, but i honestly thought that she was all talk. well, she proved me wrong. while i worked on cleaning the kitchen and LH mowed the grass, she finished painting our red room and we yelled back and forth across the house to each other. it was great. now, our red room is put back together and LH has even said that it is his favorite room in the house. all we needed was the help of a good friend. thanks, N =)

God has totally blessed us with some amazing friends in the city that we live in right now. realizing that a friend would get sweaty and dirty just to help us out made me want to go out and help another friend somehow. so that's my challenge to you guys today: don't just be a friend to someone, show your friendship to them in a helpful way.