boys

i just returned yesterday from a beyond-wonderful conference put on by The Gospel Coalition and my mind and heart are full to the point of bursting. i am processing so much and i will be back here soon with some of that. 

but for today, i have to tell you about a recent morning spent with these two boys:

samuel and bergen. i got the really good end of a deal with lacey: she got my girl, i got her boy and i whisked them off to a creek in the mountains where we searched for, found and identified water bugs. really good end of the deal. because by about 9:15 that morning, i was here:

yes, that is mist you see rising off of the creek in the early morning. it was one of those, i-can't-believe-i-get-to-be-here-seeing-this-beauty kind of moments. standing in a cold creek, in the mountains, flanked by two sweet and interesting boys. 

oh friendship. these boys have lessons for me to learn. they talked of things on the car ride up, taking time for space and silence when they were both ready. they tromped through the water equally together and individually. they laughed and listened to each other. i loved watching it all. i really really got the good end of the deal.