The Honest Truth

*Disclaimer: No one in this story named Jeff but the picture is effective.

I realize that I flatter myself that any of you might have been wondering where I've been, but nonetheless I feel like an explanation is necessary.  You have become my cyber friends and family and I've removed myself from your presence for two months or more.  I've missed you all and it just feels wrong to show back up and start blogging like I haven't missed a beat.  I will be visiting everyone's blog and trying to get caught up on what I've missed.  

So I'd love to be able to say that I had the world's worst case of writer's block.  But it wasn't anything as grand or lofty as that.  I could say that I was busy, bored, or uninspired and that would be closer to the truth.  Even telling you that I've been on a vodka soaked bender for 2 months would be an interesting story.  But no.....

We met another family here in town.  And it was all consuming for nearly 2 months.  Until it wasn't.  Let me rewind a bit.....

I was invited to a Pampered Chef Party here in town.  I love Pampered Chef stuff and wanted the opportunity to get to know some people so I went.  I met some lovely ladies.  Ladies who were mostly like me.  They were opinionated, and nosey, and full of laughter.  One of them in particular I gelled with right away.  She invited us to church for the Friday night open gym for the kids.  Friday night arrived and we packed up the kids and went as a family unit to the local church.  Everyone was super nice, but wonder of wonders Darling Husband gelled instantly with her husband, their son who is the same age as our little diplomat middle child got along famously and even our daughter immediately adhered to their daughter.  It was a match made in heaven. 

For nearly two months we all talked and texted nearly every day.  We spent almost the whole of every weekend together, there was much livlihood and laughter.  More than I've had in a long time.  Maybe since before we moved.  Our apparent love for one another burned with the 'white hot intensity of a thousand suns" (no idea where that is from but it fits).  We were completely consumed with their friendship to the exclusion of nearly everything else other than work.  Including blogging.  

But then suddenly it cooled off.  We felt the change but couldn't put our finger on it. We didn't know what we'd done wrong, but clearly things were 'different'.  I will give them credit, when this has happened before with other friends they just went away and we were left to only speculate what or if we'd done something wrong.  They actually accepted our invitation to come over but mostly because 'we need to talk'.  Uh-oh.....

So we send the kids out to play and they sit on one couch and we sit on another.  And they lay out for us what their issues are.  Come to find out we are too 'worldly'.  We have our kids in public school because I just never wanted to be that person who home schooled my kids.  We have a large HD TV and we watch it....a lot - that is why we have it after all.  ***And as a side note, they didn't seem to have any problem watching it with us for two months.  We say curse words and we drink.  There are the two big ones.  Apparently those are deal breakers for them.  They told us "We love you guys so much....(wait for it) BUT.....(ah, there it is) we can't be around what you guys do or have our kids around it."  

I asked them flat out, "are you breaking up with us?" which I know is ridiculous for grown people to say but that's what it felt like.  So now it's now.  I don't bear them any ill will but clearly it wasn't quite the match made in heaven that it seemed at first. 

I have spent the last week or so examining our lives and our habits.  Okay, we drink.  Daily.  Do we get out of hand, sloppy, mean, or any of those things?  We do not.  We cuss....sometimes like sailors....but does that make us bad people?  It does not.  We don't home school and we have a lot of technology.  Does that make us abnormal?  I don't think it does.  What it seems to come down to is that the way we conduct ourselves and our lives is too much of a temptation for them in their walk with God.  And I don't want to be a stumbling block in anyone's walk.  I do try to be sensitive to those with addictive tendencies so I'm going to refrain making any statement about their character.  On the upside, I've realized through close examination that it isn't a weakness in or lack of character on our part.  

And that my friends..is the rest of the story.