C20s Christmas Party (Mostly about my beloved Lori, Carey, and Vanessa)

I had so much fun at the C20s Christmas party last night. We had just right number of people, I think. There were a couple people there who had never been to either one of our small groups (women’s or co-ed). I hope they find their way back to join us for the small groups, too.

I was also really happy that Lori, Carey, and Vanessa could come, because I haven't seen them much lately, or I will not get to see them much in the future. Lori goes to the Saturday night celebration, so I haven’t seen her since the Alpha course ended. She gave me this hand-made Christmas card with mice on it. It was the cutest card ever! She is such a neat person. I’m going to come up with any excuse and get to know her more.

I hadn’t seen Carey in a while, either, because I went home over Thanksgiving and missed a couple of small groups and Sundays after I came back. Now she has moved to Farmington Hills, and won’t be coming to our group or to Ann Arbor Vineyard. I miss her! She brought Steve with her, and it was cool to finally meet him in person, because we’ve heard so much about him. And they just got engaged the night before!! Steve made Carey a super cute scrapbook that had pictures from the time they started dating and the night they got engaged (they started dating in high school). The last page of the book had a flap, and when Carey opened it, she found the engagement ring in a little compartment under that. I was so touched. I don’t know any other guy who would do something like that. That’s like totally out of a storybook. How could she say no after that!? Well, she knew he was the love of her life for a long time anyway, though. Their relationship is really inspiring. The way they care about and respect each other is really precious.

I have to admit that I’m very disappointed about Vanessa’s visa falling through. I really like her, and was looking forward to spending more time with her. But I’m glad she is at peace about it. She seemed very happy to be able to go home. The whole Alpha weekend was amazing, but the walk Vanessa and I took in the woods was definitely one of the highlights of that retreat for me. It was a perfect autumn day with clear sky, gentle breeze and golden filed. We sat down on a log by the field and prayed for each other. I’ve only known her for a short period of time, but I felt connected with her after that. Even the fact we got lost in the woods and wondered around aimlessly for a couple hours adds to the special memory. We came out of the woods to a beautiful horse barn, where we asked a really nice lady how to get back to the campsite, and Jamie, Asa, and Rachel came to get us in Asa’s car… She is going home to Peru this Sunday.

The Christmas party was great all around. I want to write more about it, but I think the rest should go on a separate entry.