When Jesus was a child, he grew up in a small town. Although we weren't told how he spent his time, we can assume that he played with friends, went to synagogue, and grew up with the boys and girls his age that lived near him, much as children have throughout time. I wonder what those boys and girls thought as he grew to manhood and began the journey that led to the cross. Did they remember their childhood fondly? Did they think about the boy they knew, and wonder where the years went? Did they wonder what became of him? Did they think he was just another itinerant teacher, wandering from town to town without a place to call home?
Moving back to the small rural community where I grew up has been an interesting experience in many ways. But one of the most fun parts is reconnecting with my first friends, the girls I grew up with and who knew me in good times and bad throughout the years when I was growing up (and seriously at my most obnoxious.)
It is amazing to see who these women have grown to be, how accomplished, how interesting, and especially, how generous of heart. The love which surrounded us as we grew up has been imbued within them, and they now shower others with the same love we received. It is amazing to come home and be on the receiving end of that love, after so much hardship and hurt.
Today I am so grateful for the childhood I had in a small town with some very special women. It is in coming home and reclaiming my past that I have truly found my future, and I am glad to know that they have been a part of redeeming the joy in my life. I cannot think of a better group of women to share my childhood with, and I look forward to many more shared moments to come.
