The best ships are friendships (week 10)

Tony and I are blessed in so many areas of our lives. We both have jobs we enjoy, healthy families, great kids. Thanks be to God for all those blessings; but this week I’m especially grateful for the many and wonderful friendships we’ve established over the years.

I’ve written already about our amazing friend Christy, who suggested we leave our van at her place in Tampa instead of driving home at Christmastime. We seriously cannot thank her enough for sacrificing a third of her garage and parking in the driveway for three months so we could fly about the country. The hostess with the most-est for sure!

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As I’m writing this today, I’m sitting in the lanai overlooking the pool of some other amazing friends, Corey and Carrie Reyment (my cruise “sister”) from Green Bay. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them this week at their stunningly beautiful winter home near St. Petersburg. Last night, they invited Sarasota friends Nigel and Cathy Endicott-Miles to grill out, have drinks and share stories with us well into the night. Our friendship cup overflows.

Even though our girls aren’t technically on spring break for another two weeks, it definitely feels like we are on a Florida vacation right now. On Monday night, we went out for dinner at a German restaurant to celebrate Christy’s daughter’s birthday; then our girls stayed up late watching movies with the Weber kids. After school on Tuesday, our family made the drive over to Orlando where we spent the night at a Hawaiian-themed resort before getting up before dawn on Wednesday to spend 12 hours at Universal Studios. An expensive day with a lot of walking (my Garmin clocked 28,000 steps!) but worth every penny! Our favorite attraction was a stunt show based on the Bourne Identity movies. Bella got her fill of rollercoasters, Alayna got her fill of ice cream and we all got our fill of magic at the Harry Potter worlds. If you go, you must buy a wand! You’ll feel like a real wizard!

I don’t know what we did to deserve such amazing and hospitable friends—maybe it was all the hosting we’ve done at home at our “Broullire B&B”! Regardless, I am in awe and filled with gratitude not only for the wonderful people who’ve welcomed us into their homes, but for all of you back home who have prayed for us and/or sent love and support along our journey. I’m reminded of Nigel’s favorite toast that he shared with us on the Captains of the Deal cruise a few years back. It rings even more true today:

“There are tall ships and small ships, and ships that sail the sea.

But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be.”