Framily

"Relationships can be messy and not very efficient, but loving relationships are at the heart of the gospel  In the language of efficiency, love is willing to waste time."  

~Alan Fadling, "An Unhurried Life"

There are just some people in our lives where we feel close bonds of shared experiences tying our hearts together.  They aren't related by blood, they are related by hardships and joy, by Jesus and the things He is doing in our lives.  They are framily.  (Framily also happens to be the name of a recently discovered favorite coffee.)

Over the years, this family has shared school experiments, many races of varying speeds, temperatures, and intensities, birthdays, and ship adventures.

They keep adding more grandchildren, and the amazing thing is that whenever the big, messy extended families all get together, their crew mingles and plays and laughs with ours just like we belong.  

So, when our faraway friend, Karen, made a trip to visit the Gebauers, only six hours away, there was a quick Choate group chat via text, and we decided to surprise Karen with a visit.  Since she no longer works with SITAG, we don't know when we'll be close enough to hug her neck again.

Even though our time on the road was longer than the time we actually spent looking at each other, "in the language of efficiency, love is willing to waste time."  Nourishing each other spiritually, physically, and emotionally, we invested in exercise and coffee and catching up.  

These kind of friends don't waste moments with small talk, we know we can dive deep quickly with each other.  And there is always time for a game of "sela coconut" when we get together.

These friends have invested many years serving the Solomon Islands through Bible Translation and literacy, and these kids have all grown up together in the South Pacific.

The Lord has knit our hearts together.  Truly, we are "framily".