thoughtfulness

I had coffee and brownies for breakfast this morning. (Okay, so I had eggs and kale first. I didn't want to completely destroy my blood sugar for the day. But then I had coffee and brownies!)

Why? you ask. (Or maybe you don't. Maybe you think this is awesome!) Because my friend Beth sent them to me in the mail.

I was Beth's sidekick our senior year in college. She was everything I wanted to be: tall, blonde, thin, beautiful, and with a radiant smile that proved how sweet she really was. (Sometimes I would borrow and wear her gray corduroys just so I could feel like her for a day!)

We did everything together. We got jobs together. Took a road trip to the Grand Canyon for spring break together. Were happy together and depressed together.

Beth taught me how to add white chocolate chips to brownies so that they would stay moist forever (not that they ever lasted long!). She took me home with her for Christmas ("Winterfest") and her family taught me how to play Mario Kart. I took her to my grandma's and we ate lots of pancakes.

But all that happened a dozen years ago and other than being Facebook friends we haven't kept in touch. Which is why it was all the more exciting to get a box of brownies in the mail this week!

In my excitement I thought Beth sent me a box of brownie mix. Which was the sweetest most thoughtful thing I could imagine her ever doing, because it was such a perfect reminder of our togetherness.

And then I looked at the pictures and the note she sent along with it. Pictures of us that she'd taken in college with her Polaroid camera. A note about how much our friendship meant to her. And that became the sweetest most thoughtful thing I could ever imagine her doing.

And then I noticed that the box of brownie mix was taped shut. That's right friends. She had baked me brownies and tucked them safely inside the box, sending them all the way from New York, with love.

You can see why I wanted to be Beth in college. Not just because she is blonde and beautiful on the outside (though that was certainly part of it!). But because of her thoughtful, compassionate, loving heart. Which isn't just big on the inside but also shines through the outside into the lives of everyone she meets.

EMBRACE THOUGHTFULNESS.

Even if a dozen years or more have passed, learn from my friend Beth that it is never too late to show love to the people God has brought into your life. Reach out. Put a gift or a card in the mail. (Invite them for pie!) Be thoughtful about it--what is something the two of you shared that continues to remind you of him or her to this day? Don't let another day go by without letting them know how you've been blessed simply by knowing them.