Unnecessary details

I am a story teller. In fact, I wonder if it's one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that just doesn't happen to be listed. And by stories, I don't mean lies or tall tales. I mean that there are important events in our lives that need to be told well. You know those annoying people who say, "No!!! You're not telling it right!!"?

That's me.

And sometimes I include too many details. But for me, the details make the story.

I warn you that the story you're about to read is highly personal, and may mean nothing to you. It's just that the details matter. And to quote Richard quoting me, "I'm just sayin'."

The girl in the picture with me, the picture where I kind of look like I'm bald. The picture where I'm smiling funny--the girl is named Ashley. We met at Mardel, where we both worked for a ridiculously long time making very little money. We loved it mainly because we got to goof off a lot. I loved it because I got to borrow a lot of the Philip Yancey and Donald Miller books, read them, and then return them to the shelf.

Ashley always had spunk. That's what I'll call it. Others might call it sass. I would always retort with something off the wall though, and we would just laugh about it. We also shared a lot of embarrassing stories from our times working. Such as the time she fell on her face when trying to point out a book with her toe to a customer. In her defense, it was crazy to have such low shelves. Or the time I jumped into the trash compactor for a "wedding" ring. Or the time I fell off the scaffolding and I was more mad that nobody saw me to laugh than was I mad at actually falling.

Or the time I thought a customer was asking for the books about sex, but she was really asking for the Homeschooling program called Saxon.

Thinking back, maybe it was really me who had the embarrassing stories.

We also hung out together outside of work. She remembered a lot more of the details than I was expecting when we met for lunch the other day. She remembered one of my ex-boyfriends to which I responded, "Yeeeeahh.. not a shining moment for me." She also remembered our Mondays at Wendy's, which is why we met at Wendy's this time too. Should have included my Frosty cup in the picture! D'oh!

Ashley was the person I went on my first ever, without adults road trip. We talked about how fun that was. With the guy who told us about his friend who got hit by lightning while horseback riding. We were in the midst of horseback riding at the time, so you know.. comforting. And from there we launched into what has been happening in our lives ever since.

Mainly, what God has been showing us. There are things about us still very much the same. I kept thinking about how silly I still am, with the way I think about kids. She has two now, and talked about what it's like to be a mom. We talked about changing diapers, as I've done a few more these days with Nolan. We laughed at all that comes with that. I got to ask her what she's learned about herself now, as a married woman for five years. Even as she talked about what God's taught, I could sense the change.

It gives me goosebumps to talk to the ones who do grow up. To see how she's been pliable to God's will for her life. How she's become more unselfish in the way she makes decisions. To see her still have a little bit of that sass, but to also see how humbled she's been by being in a covenant relationship with her husband Steven. I'm looking forward to staying in touch with this one, even if it's just once every few years. We've had a lot of laughs together, and I really admire who she is, who she will be.

Plus, we pulled off one of the best pranks ever, and I will never forget it!!! I'm just sayin'.