Butterfly Christmas

There's something to be said for longevity in friendship.

The richness and depth that is carved out over years of meeting together, sharing stories and caring about each other's journeys is truly a life-giving and dynamic gift. 

I'm not even sure how many years we've been meeting or calling ourselves "The Butterfly Club", but it's been quite a few.

Our kids were in elementary school when we all met and are now in their 30's, many of them are married, some having kids of their own. 

We don't always necessarily agree on how to do life or how we might be expressing our Christian values, but we are all  works in progress and we love each other.

I've learned a great deal about myself through the expression of our faith and friendship and I believe I've come out wiser and stronger through our shared journey and discussions.

There have been plenty of ups and downs for all of us, as there always are in a life well lived. 

The centre of attention usually lands primarily on the one who is experiencing the most dramatic life changes and we rally around asking questions, lending support, laughing or crying and usually praying for each other.

This week's big event was celebrating Barb's very recent wedding which coincided with her 65th birthday!!??!!

Amazingly enough, the last time we met in September Barb was single and fairly content.  

In the intervening 3 months she fell in love with a wonderful man whom she occasionally sat close to at hockey games because their season's seats were near  each other.

This hockey seating arrangement led to a long conversation one evening (they didn't notice any of the goals being scored), an exchange of phone numbers resulting in a date, then a trip to California where they became engaged 

 followed by him having a heart attack the next morning. 

For real.

Her last husband died very suddenly almost a year to the day from their wedding so this was a real trigger for her, to say the least.

Anyways, he healed up and they drove happily back to Canada and the rest is history.

So that's what can happen in a very short period of time.

Life is full of surprises of all sorts!

These Butterfly gals are a source of great inspiration, entertainment and delight.

We went home from a delicious breakfast with big smiles and all sorts of lovely little tokens of love.

Wonder who will be in the centre the next time we meet?