Ohhhh, who are the people in your neighborhood?

When I moved away from California, I left a lifetime of memories, family and friends. It was/is tough.

I had my own little "community" or as the pastor of my old church used to call it, an "oikos". These are the people that were a part of my life on a regular basis and influenced and encouraged me and vice versa. They were the friends that I laughed with and hugged and shared recipes with and cheered for. They were the ones that I made an extra loaf of banana bread for or went yard saleing with. They were the people that prayed for me, sang with me, cried with me and got into mischief with me.

I don't have that community anymore. Not even my daughters live close enough to spend time with as often as I'd like. But I realized that I do have friends in my life who mean the world to me...you...my blogging friends.

I find that I often will include in a typical conversation, "My friend, Ina, who lives in Alaska..." or "I have a friend who's son, Josh loves to read" or "My friend, Mari made this really great recipe that I can't wait to try...."

Then, there are those times when my thoughts land throughout the day on someone who's going through something tough or maybe I end up reflecting on something shared that was profound and insightful.

I am thankful for you for you are a part of my neighborhood. There are those of you that have been with me for the three years that I've blogged and for that, I'm so very thankful. So, my invitation to you is to introduce yourself or your blog and tell me one thing about you that you want me to know. Even if you don't comment often or even comment at all, please, join in. I'd be thrilled to finally meet you!

In the meantime, welcome to my neighborhood!!