Yesterday it struck me how critical it is to walk through life with inspiring friends.

EVERY DAY I am inspired by one of my friends. They show me how to love. They encourage me to dream big dreams. They shift my focus from fear and inadequacy to possibility and potential. They are a constant reminder that there are no such thing as extraordinary people, only ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Spence is an Iron Man (just thinking about it makes me tired).

Keely travels around the world capturing stories of poverty and hope with her camera.

Jenni strives to empower, challenge, and encourage women leaders.

Justin and Trish bravely share their season of struggle with unbelievable candor and grace so others can learn from their mistakes.

(I am keeping this to a short list, but I could go on and on, and on and on.)

It is this simple. If you don’t have friends who inspire you, you need to find some new friends.

Right now. They will change your life. They will change your life for good.

How are your friends inspiring you?

I returned from Guatemala two weeks ago. Wow…two weeks…14 days…336 hours. In some ways it seems like just yesterday, in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago.

On Friday, Shaun Groves sent an email to the Compasssion Bloggers Guatemala team.

I’ve been laying low, reading your posts, praying for you from a distance but now I’m gonna put my nose back in your bid’ness and pry a little: How’s everybody doing?

It took my two days to respond to his not so subtle nudging. And still my response was stilted.

It is not that I felt uncomfortable exposing my thoughts…or feelings. It is just that I don’t know quite know what I am thinking…or feeling. Ugh.

How. Am. I. Doing?

I can’t quite say.

But I can say this.

Today I witnessed the incredible effects of the work Compassion does. Again.

I had the opportunity to hang out with two Leadership Development Program students, Ben (27) from Kenya and Richmond (30) from Uganda. They are seemingly ordinary young men that were unleashed from poverty through Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program. And then taught to chase extraordinary dreams through Compassion’s Leadership Development Program.

It was an incredible couple of hours.

We laughed about college football. Unfortunately Ben is a misguided A&M fan.

We compared fruit. I guess there are some crazy bananas in Uganda that will get you on-the-floor drunk?

We talked about dreams. In the spring, Richmond will return home to get married to Sheila, pastor his community, and equip other pastors all over Africa. This fall, Ben will go on tour with with Amy Grant to share first-hand the importance of the LDP program.

And we marveled at the lives changed by generous men and women who provide for hundreds of thousands of Compassion children. Generous men and women who are playing a critical role in unleashing children from poverty and unlocking their dreams.

I hope that I never forget the stories of these young men. I hope that I never forget the opportunity we have to love on our neighbors around the world.

So…How’s everybody doing?

I am one of those people who has lots of circles of friends. Single girl friends, church friends, work friends, “campus” friends, Powered by Hope friends, blogging friends, twitter friends, high school friends, college friends, Birmingham friends, camp friends…just to name a few.

So naturally I have several friends who have never had the opportunity to meet. Sometimes it is easier to keep the circles separate.

But sometimes it is fun to find a few friends from two different groups and introduce them, to play “matchmaker.”

Now, I am not talking about matchmaking in a romantic way. (Although that can be fun too.) Here’s what I’m talking about:

A few months ago I arranged a happy hour with the sole purpose of introducing my friends Bryan and Suzanne Norman to Matthew and Alyson Costner. I have known “the Normans” for a few years. They are some of my favorite people on the planet. They are passionate. They love good food. And they are great for a deep conversation about anything from faith to politics or for a night out singing karaoke (You should see Bryan do Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”) (more…)

Last night I had dinner with Spence Smith, Keely Marie Scott, and Ryan O’Quinn. I had never met Keely and Ryan before “in real life.” But they were even cooler than I imagined.

I had so much fun. It was one of those nights that was completely energizing (something I don’t take for granted in this season of Christmas parties and holiday hoopla). It was one of those nights when I reconnected with how much I love interacting with new and interesting people in a small group setting (not at cocktail party setting, that kinda freaks me out).

We talked about Compassion International. We talked 90210. We talked Battle Star Galactica (or “BSG” as I learned it is so aptly called).

We talked blogging. We talked steaming techniques (I’ll note the girls at the table had not-a-thing to contribute to this conversation). We talked books. We talked Glee. We talked Pioneer Woman. We talked Cross Point. (more…)