Marrying Matt after a few short months of long-distance dating was a pretty big (and apparently scandalous) risk among some of my friends and family. It's turned out pretty great and he is still exactly who I thought he was, give or take a few surprises (like Doctor Who figurines). One of the many blessings and surprises that have unfolded as we continue to get to know each other in our marriage is how many incredible friendships he has. I barely knew him when we got engaged, let alone his friends. It has been a supreme honor to inherit and marry into his relationships.
Two of these people are Jacob and Sarah Lewis. The Lewis family in general is pretty important to Matt. He and Jacob's brother, Josh, were living together when I met him and are incredibly close. I didn't actually meet Jacob until the day of my wedding, as he waved to me from behind his camera, but Matt raved about him and his wife, Sarah, whom I met the next day at a blurred post-wedding brunch. Months later, when Jacob gifted us an incredible wedding video, he and Sarah went from "Matt's friends" to "the reason I remember anything at all about our wedding day". But I still didn't know much about them and wondered if them seeing all my extended family and me under the stress of a wedding was going to compromise the chances. Also, they lived across the country.
I finally got the chance to spend some quality time with them earlier this spring when they came over for dinner. It doesn't escape me how hard it is to budget your time well when you're visiting a city you once called home. You have a prioritized list of places you want to revisit and people you want to catch up with. We got lucky and got to see them for a couple hours before they headed to the airport. We all stood around our kitchen as Matt and I fumbled to make a dinner that was a bit behind schedule and serve wine in foggy glasses while simultaneously catch up with them.
When I think back on that night, I can remember most of our conversations, most of their answers to my questions and every bite of the cheese danishes they left behind for us. But overall what sticks out to me is how genuine they are. They are doing more than sitting around a table talking about how the church needs to change or how Christians should really reflect Christ; they are changing their lives and sacrificing comfort to do those things. Matt and I get into these conversations a lot, partly because we're a bit critical and partly because a great desire of our heart is to serve and be the church. But rarely do I get into a conversation with someone who can follow up their "we think " with a "so we are going to do ". It's encouraging. It's convicting. It's great.
Much to my delight, Sarah has recently entered into the blogging world and writes here. The morning I read her post about their Fourth of July, I cried. It was empowering and heart-breaking and spilling out Jesus' love all over the page. You should read it. As a person with what some people call "a sense of justice", her story pulled on my heart. At best, this sense of justice fights alongside God for the defenseless. At worst, it results in me confronting someone who cut in line at Starbucks. When I read her post, I thought about how differently that night could have gone if they were feeling a bit more selfish. If they weren't thinking outside themselves. I also thought about how many times I've probably missed an opportunity like that in a moment of entitlement, laziness or distraction (of myself).
I'm so thankful for a woman like Sarah, who not only writes about living like Christ, but is making great efforts to do it.
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