Deep. Special. Amazing. Blessed. Grateful. Sacred. Thank you.These are all words that were common to my vocabulary this past week, words which only scratch the surface of what Christianne and I experienced. For women who have identified their calling to be writers in this world, it is amazing how often we were rendered incapable of speech this week; how many times the experiences we shared transcended language.
We had both been in prayer for this week long before I got on the plane, asking God to make it what He would have it to be. He did. Every moment was rich and dripping with divine blessing. There were a few plans in place, but mostly we left our time open to the movement of the Holy Spirit. And He moved. There were tears, there was laughter. There was conversation and there was silence. There was joy and grief and amazement. There were extended hands and open arms.
And there was always a deep and abiding love.
I am certain that I've never experienced friendship like this before; there is a deep and hidden place in my heart that only she may occupy. How rare and beautiful a gift; I hold it close. I hold her as dear. On a day when cloaked and hidden things rose to the surface of our hearts and spilled out of our lips, we were there to minister to one another; to tend to those tender and most vulnerable places.
I imagine that in the coming days and weeks, we will allow our shared and individual experiences from this week to sink into our bones and flesh, to allow them become a part of who we are in a deep and visceral way. Though I look forward to sharing from our time together, there are some things that I may continue to ponder in my own heart, to hold as sacred and secret for a time, much like Mary did when she received the news that the Messiah would make her womb His home.
It was a privilege to share these days with you, Christianne; to be in your home, share meals with you, to hold your hands and be at the center of your embrace; to laugh and to cry and to pray with you; to entrust each other with places in our hearts that we have been in the habit of hiding away. To share our story in the StoryCorps van; to dance and play at the seashore; to speak affectionately to alligators and our breakfasts. To share life itself.Until we meet again, friend; I hold you in that place in my heart, the place reserved only for you. There is always a place for you here. Love to you.
NOTE: To see some photos from our week together, click on the link of Florida pics below my profile information. Enjoy!
Truly when one has a friend as you have in Christiane you are blessed. Some people go through their entire life and do not have an intimate friendship such as you have. That is to bad.
ReplyDeleteGod gives us great friends for great reasons. They are there to reflect back to us ourselves warts and all, and to reinforce all the good stuff that makes us who we are.
Kirsten, even though neither of us has many words for what this week has meant to us, you wrapped so much of this special week in perfect words here. I felt like I was re-experiencing so many of the special moments as I read this post, and your descriptions were so apt, so graceful, so just right. When I read about holding hands, I remembered how your hands felt inside of mine. When you wrote about the deep and hidden places the bubbled up without expectation, I remembered how it felt to be sitting at that table, tears coming to the surface, prayers beginning to flow.
ReplyDeleteAnd talking to alligators and our breakfasts? Yeah, that got a huge burst of laughter out of me. :)
Those alligators better back off. Or we'll eat them! Grrr . . . we're not scared of them, no, no.
Thank you for putting into such beautiful words the very first few layers of our time together. I will always, always treasure this week in my heart. And I will treasure you even closer still.
"we will allow our shared and individual experiences from this week to sink into our bones and flesh"
ReplyDeleteI love how this connects and testifies of your two spirits being in the One and how that is permeating every fabric of your being....deep calls to deep ultimate beauty
thank you for these feelings
Thanks for the generous way the two of you have shared this very intimate thing going on between you. You don't have to, you know. I feel a little bit like a voyeur peeking in on something really holy and in some ways deeply private. I hope you know that you have permission to keep any and all of this just between the two of you.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, it is a rare and joyful thing to witness that such connections are really possible, even across impossible distances and obstacles. This is what we were made for. Thank you Kirsten and Christianne for listening to the Spirit that called you back to one another. And thank you again for inviting us in.
Carl - thank you. I know that we both hold our friendship as something sacred and precious and rare; something, as you said, that not everyone experiences in the course of a life. I consider myself to be profoundly blessed to have found it with so special a person as Christianne.
ReplyDeleteChristianne - Wow. Ah! When I think of our time together, so much rises in my heart and pops out in my mind. Every moment was so terribly special, each word and activity and conversation orchestrated by God Himself. I count it as such a privilege to be able to share these days and moments with you and Kirk. And the gators too. Watch out, guys. Christianne means business!! ;o)
Di - thank you for sharing with us in this way. It is amazing to have experienced it and I know it's something we both feel honor and privilege to have shared together. So beautiful.
Terri - Thank you for sharing. I do know what you mean about this sacred & special bond; and it is. That's not lost on us. I know for me, since our connection was reforged in the context of blogging and with the witness of our wonderful little blogging community, it is something I have a desire to share in this space. But as you said so well, so much of what we shared was sacred and special and holy, something I'll be treading around lightly, something which will never be explicity shared here.
Sometimes, there are no words. Sometimes those holy gifts are ones we're meant to ponder in our hearts and keep secret. For some of these things, these conversations, these tears ... this is true.
Thank you for thinking of us and praying for us this week. We felt enveloped in the prayers and love of our community and sent prayers up for you, too.
What are we to do with so much love?!
uh-oh, the assclown is on the prowl... beware!
ReplyDeleteit seems you both have found in each other your 'diana'. :) so nice to read of your visit... i thought of you both all week, and knew you were probably having an amazing time. it makes me long for that intimacy that i used to have, but with all the relocations we've made, have not been able to hang on to.
It sounds perfectly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt is the most amazing feeling to find that friend who somehow fits in your heart as if she always belonged.
My own best friend has made my life what it is.
It is, indeed, a blessing.
What a glorious time for you both! Thanks for sharing about it.
ReplyDeleteWow and wow! Such wonderful pictures ladies! It was so cool to see those pictures. Reminds me of some of our old Torrey sessions, souls glowing beyond their bodies! 8^D
ReplyDeleteSay, when is the StoryCorps recording going to show up online? I'd love to hear it!
P.S. This is double posted in the other blog too... I'll let you try to figure out which came first, could have just been server delays 8^D
Are you going to be telling us more? Little bit by little bit?
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was refreshing and inspiring.