With Counseling

This is my friend Teresa.

Here we are, together as always.

We have been friends for 24 years. I can't believe it has been that long. Seems like only yesterday, we were helping each other babysit while we ran to the store. Teresa has three boys and a loving husband who happens to be the Pastor of our church.

Teresa and Dave

Her men

 Her kids are just as dear to me as my own because we all grew up together. I seriously mean we grew up together. I was eighteen years old when I got married, and nineteen when I had my first child. His name was Jeremy, and that same year Teresa had her third son Luke. We shared the same house when the boys were little. They rented the downstairs living space, and Scott and I rented the upstairs living space. It was so wonderful to have an experienced mother only a flight of stairs and a laundry room away. I learned so many things from her, and it was beyond nice to have a friend who was always a few steps ahead of me in child rearing and life.

Luke and Jeremy all grown up.

Still little boys to us.

 If I ever needed advice on anything, I would just run down and ask. How do you get rid of thrush? How do you make pizza dough? How do you decorate without spending too much money? How do you get rid of lice? How do you love a man you barely know? How do you have quiet time and toddlers?  The list was endless. The definition of counseling is the provision of assistance and guidance in resolving personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties. This sounds so cold just reading it from the dictionary, but if you blend it with what it means to counsel from a woman of faith standpoint, and how the Bible views women helping women, you will see that God places a high value on friends that give wise counsel, and their importance in His kingdom. Teresa has been invaluable to me as a counseling friend.

At Jeremy's Wedding

Serious

Silly

 Somewhere amid all the questions, she became more than that to me. She became my forever friend. We went from swapping information to bosom friends, like Anne and Diana from Anne of Green Gables.

Kindred Spirits

 We have giggled for hours over absolutely nothing, and cried together over real hardships.  Her miscarried baby boy, her daddy, and her first granddaughter are all in heaven waiting for us. We have worked along side each other through fun projects and through yucky ones. (under a house cleaning up cat poo) We have survived babies with reflux, toddlers who bite, big boys who get stitches, teenagers who sneak out, adult children who get married, thyroid cancer that came and went, and someday husbands who retire. We love to paint together and ride around in the car doing errands. Years of secrets, years of time spent on the phone, years of time spent in church together serving and being served have all been so special to me. I really can't remember a time in my adult life that Teresa wasn't around. She and her family have been irreplaceable gifts from a God who knew just what I would need.

Luke, Lauren, Jed, Dave, Teresa, Josh, Micah and Sarah.

Jed and Lauren before Eli

Newest Grandbaby

Josh and Sarah's new little girl Joci. (You have seen her before)

Daughter-in-laws both pregnant at the same time.

Yia Yia and Mamaw

Teresa caring for all three of her grandchildren. (Micah, Jocelyn and Eli)

Her favorite thing

Their ministry, and our church, have shaped my past, present, and future with the love of Christ. In eternity, I will be surrounded by those dearest in all the world to me because of their sacrifices. If you do not have a counseling friend, or a doctrinally sound church family, you could always come visit Avalon Hills Bible Church. If you live far away, I strongly encourage you to find a Teresa, and Flood your life.

Heaven on Earth

ps. Their son Luke, Teresa, Dave, Sarah and Lauren Rieke all have blogs worth reading. You can learn so much more about their lives than I had space to write. You will enjoy every one of them.
Luke
Teresa
Dave
Sarah
Lauren