One of the hardest parts of leaving Richmond was leaving our dear friends, Nate & Laurie. God truly put them in our lives to bless and encourage us for the past 4 years. The story goes: Dave and I got married in 2003. On my first day at work at Stonewall Jackson M.S. that year, I met Nate, who was a school counselor there. We quickly discovered that we lived in the same apartment complex, and that we were both Christians. I got so excited, because Dave and I really wanted to find Christian friends around our age that we could bond with. A few weeks later, at the SJMS faculty picnic, the four of us had dinner. It was obvious early on that we were going to have a lot of fun together. We started having a Bible study every Tuesday night in me & Dave's tiny apartment. It grew over the years, people came & went, it was a great place for folks in our age group to bond and laugh and grow. Nate & Laurie encouraged me throughout my tough first year at SJMS, we've seen each other through tough family situations and car accidents and babies being born and job changes and surgeries and moves from apartments to houses. Together, we've gone to lots of movies & dinners, celebrated birthdays & holidays, gone to the beach, swam at "the Mark", bowled, golfed, fished, cooked, made annual trips to Ikea (thanks for your truck, Nate), and played countless games of Milles Bournes ("bwah ha ha ha, you've been creved!!") & Loaded Questions. They've gamely been the subjects of hundreds of pictures from my camera. They supported us and cared for us during our darkest hours this past year. They have prayed with us and for us more times than I can count.
It is truly a blessing to have friends that you can connect with on so many levels. I praise God for blessing me and Dave with Nate & Laurie. They were our first married friends as a newly married couple, and I know we will remain close with them always. I love you guys!
