My husband has always said "if you go through life and are able to count on one hand , even having just one person that is a true friend , then you have been blessed" That is so , true. Although , Mary Dale Blalock and I have only been friends for about 10 years , it seems like it has been forever. We were friends instantly. Actually, it was my husbands Aunt who introduced my husband Mark to Mary Dale's husband Scott , knowing they would become friends but little did she know that while Mark and Scott are still friends , Mary Dale and I became the closest of friends.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18;24 - " There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" from this verse alone we see there are two kinds of “friends.” There is the friend who exists because you have something to offer (such as a material gift or popularity-by-association), and there is a friend who exists due to genuine love and friendship,Proverbs offers a contrast between these two types of friends. You can amass as many friends of the first type as you want but still come to ruin; however, even one friend of the second type is a great advantage.
The genuine or authentic friend is someone who sticks closer than a brother. In other words, he or she can be counted on. This friend is steadfast; he or she will be there for you even more so than a family member. A friend who sticks closer than a brother is a trustworthy friend, indeed. That is Mary Dale and I .
We have cried together, suffered sadness together, shared a faith together, many meals together and we have had a few little squabbles along the way , but very few. We have shared so many laughs and giggles and we can just look at each other and automatically know what the other one is thinking .
One of our most favorite things to do is being thrifty, we love a good bargain and Im not talking about the clearance rack at Coach or Macy's etc.. Im talking about the thrill of the hunt at a yard sale, a flea market , a thrift store we never really truly have an agenda as to what we are looking for , we just know it when we see it . The thing is, our taste are so similar that we often are looking at the same thing to purchase but the friends that we are we will allow the other one to take it knowing she will want it more . Mary is the Pilot in our relationship and I am the Co-Pilot , she is the driver and I am the Navigator, we never know where we will end up on our road trips . Some days we hit the MOTHER LOAD of sales and other days NOTHING, but every time we spend together is always joyful and uplifting. We have been doing this for years .
Recently , we believe that the Lord has handed us a new talent , we at first called it a hobby , but our little sidekick , Emilee Blalock ( Mary's daughter ) actually corrected us and said "No its not a hobby, its a gift "
I have watched Emilee grow up, I remember meeting her when she was just in 3rd grade and now she is completing her first year of high school. Emilee ,has been the best back seat pilot with our journeys and trips and as she is enduring the tumultuous years of high school where kids can be cruel and mean , I am glad she is able to see and witness with her mother and I want true friendship is and know that it is real and she is very intelligent , so when Emilee corrected Mary and I said "NO its not a hobby , it is a gift " Mary Dale and I talked about it and we both prayed and we both believe that the Lord has given us a talent a gift. We have been collecting heirlooms and trying to find the homes to these heirlooms , little did we know where these little gems would take us , we have only begun our Finders and Seekers but we are batting 200% right now .
We will be blogging about our find and road trips and the people whom we have met along the way and what a blessing it has been. We have had a few negative remarks such as "I cant believe you drove all that way just to deliver letters or a Bible to that family" "How are you all able to afford it " well , neither Mary nor I are rich by any means , that is why we feel that the little pearls we find, that the Lord must have a hand in it , because we always are able to make it work without , taking from our families. When the Lord says there is more happiness in giving that receiving , for those who have questioned what we are doing , we would say , just try it , seeing and hearing the families of how happy they were and are just makes our hearts explode .
The next blog will be about our first adventure and there will be one to follow on our upcoming 2nd adventure ...
We hope you will enjoy our stories:) Thelma and Louise and little Thelmaouisa
Mary Dale, Karen and Emilee
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