Beyond friends.

My husband and I have a few people in our life that we would consider "beyond friends." This week, they are in our home. Having Brian, Tatina and Scott visit isn't like normal company, or even family visiting (although Tatina is my cousin). I made up the bed for Brian & Tatina, and left out some sheets for Scott to sleep on the couch, but other than that, no extra "company cleaning" was required. In fact, Scott started doing dishes not too long after he arrived.

Tomorrow we're headed to Lake Tahoe (we'll be passing all of the Labor Day people on their way home) for a few days of camping at the Lake. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this. I'm going to do my best not to check my e-mail hourly on my phone, or even look at my phone for that matter. I love my life. I love my job, I love being a pastor and being blessed with the opportunity to have a front-row seat to watch God change peoples lives. But with these friends, I'm not Pastor Kathy. I'm not the over-achiever. In fact, they know more flaws of mine than I'll ever care to admit. And we laugh together, get frustrated with each other, forgive each other, eat off each others' plates at dinner, sleep side-by-side in a tent that's too small for the five of us...and love every single second of it.

I've known Tatina my whole life. Brian and I met the first day of classes, eight years ago. Scott and I met before classes started. Ben was his roommate. Here's to eight years of amazing friendship, and to eighty more.