Reveal what Friends are For

The following picture is of my good friend Heather with her neighborhood support team. Over the past year these women have built a community that naturally and at the drop of a hat provides mothering, nurturing, friendship, a listening ear, and anything else to anyone who needs it.

It is amazing to see. They have spoken into and observed each other's lives.

And so, recently Heather wrote an essay about our friend Jenn (seen here in the stunning red dress) detailing why Jenn deserved to win a Mother's Day Makeover Contest.

And guess what?Jenn won.

All day today Jenn was treated like royalty, with Heather along for moral support.

(You can read a bit about it here, on Heather's blog: http://livewithflair.blogspot.com/2010/05/you-never-know-when-limousine-will-show.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+LiveWithFlair+(Live+with+Flair Don't worry, the blog itself is not as long as the link that gets you there....)

Tonight, we celebrated with Jenn at her Reveal Party.

Modeled after various TV shows, held at a local restaurant, and raising money for a local charity, Jenn's party involved getting a bit gussied up ourselves.

And then, since Heather was busy with her "friend of the star and writer of the essay" role, my role for the evening involved entertaining her youngest child:

Katela.

(Pronounced Kate-a-la.)

Doesn't she look angelic?

(That's why she's also known as "Cute-a-la".)

We started off with some basic "can I take pictures with your camera?" entertainment,

and this is what we got:

(this is where it really starts to get worse...)

(though I chose not to include the numerous pictures of people's rear-ends....)Then, when we had exhausted all possibilities of "Lauren looks ridiculous", we thought it might be fun to take a picture together.

This is what ensued:

Troub-a-la.

(She has a sneaky side that one, and is a little prankster.)

She'd start off sitting pretty, and then....

You can figure out the rest for yourself.
Just look at this face:

(This, after almost knocking over a waitress . She is tickled nearly as pink as her dress.)



But, alas, the need for entertainment of Kate/Cute/Troub-a-la was over before we knew it when the real entertainment began. Heather gave a small and touching tribute to the inspiration that Jenn is to all who know her.



She shared the story of how Jenn had not that long ago asked God to amaze her, and had written in her journal a list of the things that were overwhelming her. A list of the things she felt she needed help with.









Guess what the winner of the contest recieved?

Everything--point for point--that Jenn had included on her list.

Weird? Hardly.

God.

And so, tonight's celebration not only revealed Jenn's new look--it also revealed what it looks like to live and grow in a neighborhood of women who support each other enough to spend the evening dancing away together. It revealed how it takes a village to love and nurture each other's children. It revealed the courageous faith of a friend who wrote an essay celebrating a woman who reveals grace every day to those around her with her gentle spirit and loving heart. And it revealed the faithfulness of a God who hears our hearts, and inexplicably goes out of His way to encourage them.

It revealed--quite eloquently--that this is what friends are for.