Anything better than pretty toes?

Last night one of my sweet girlfriends treated me to a pedicure and manicure!! WAHOOO! Not only did my feet and hands need it but so did my spirit! She actually treated another girlfriend and I because we had helped her with a project at church. Then another girlfriend came along so we just made it an official girls night! There were the four of us "queens" up in our chairs getting our feet rubbed and what were we doing...talking, of course!

This particular set of girlfriends of mine are no holds barred!! We laugh til we either cry or pee our pants - sometimes both! We cry over things the Lord is doing in our lives (except for one who NEVER cries - haha) and we talk, and talk and then when we're done we talk some more! As women we all have a tendency toward "sharing" that if we would be honest is gossip. However, this group of friends is quick to call you right on out! "Girl, that's starting to sound a bit like gossip"! So knowing that about these girls makes it easy to not be lead down that road. When someone brings something up that you have "the scoop" on and you start to go there another will slam on the brakes so hard your face smacks the windshield! LOVE THAT!!! We also can appear to be merciless in our teasing of each other. But we are working on that as well. WE know we're kidding but do those around us? Again, we're a work in progress!

Anyway, all of that said to say we had a BLAST last night. My sweet man was kind enough to stay with the kids so that I could go - OH HE'S SO GOOD TO ME! - and we just had an awesome time. One of my girlfriends is leaving on the 23rd for a mission trip to Ecuador which in itself is a miracle of God! This particular girlfriend - who I know wouldn't mind me sharing this with ya'll - likes her cute clothes and has LOTS of them! When she was told she could only take 3 -4 outfits for her 8 day trip she just laughed but God has worked in her in ways that has blown me away! Watching her grow and be stretched has been nothing but PURE joy for me.

Last night was just a reminder to me that God created us for relationships. One of the nail techs asked me if we were family or friends and I told her "both". She looked a bit confused (because we certainly don't physically look like family - I'm a head taller than the rest of them) but then I told her we're friends who love the same Lord and that makes us family! God wants us to have a relationship with Him but He also created a need in us to relate to one another.

As women we can be so tough on each other! I wish we could ALL stop and see each other the way God sees us. Individuals doing His work, fulfilling His plan for our individual lives. Not as competition! There's no room for that in the life of a Christian. The ONLY one I want to defeat is satan - and guess what he ALREADY IS!! Not defeated by me - of course - but by my Jesus!!! So is there anything better than pretty toes? You bet! Spending time with my girlfriends talking about what God is doing in our lives and having the opportunity to show Jesus to a few nail techs and waiters/waitresses, that's the best!! The toes...well that's just icing on the cake!!! Thanks guys for a great time last night and thank you Jesus for being there with us!!!