I distinctly remember my sophomore year of college, living at the Block on 25th in Austin's "West Campus," and sharing life stories with my roommate. After a long day of sorority recruitment–which is physically and emotionally and spiritually draining—I sat with Maddie and we told the stories of our lives. We talked about family and friends and high school and achievements. But we also shared our struggles and shortcomings, our dreams and desires.
In the midst of those first few months of living together, Maddie also shared Shauna Niequist with me. She opened the chapter on puppies and several chapters on food. Maddie would read a section of Cold Tangerines and later Bittersweet in the evening and we would sit in wonder and then talk of application. This is where the term home team comes from, this is how it entered my life.
Sometime during that sophomore year, I started forming my home team. Who are my people? Who do I call? Who are my counselors? Who knows me? This is the year that sweet, sweet Ellen joined my home team. She has always been a key player, and the foundations of our friendship–its roots and origins–cannot be credited to ourselves. It was and to this day, still is a gift. A real surprise. And if you truly know me, you know my stance on surprises...
Ellen married my good friend Jordan back in May. They are some top people. They are family and have a dear place in my heart. Andddd, given that mushy bit, this weekend, I received a truly wonderful gift.
| Jordan: guess what |
| Victoria: WHAT |
| its basically your birthday |
| cause i’m getting a present from Austin?! |
| yep, the best present ever |
Ellen came to visit this weekend. And while her visit wasn't a surprise... because I was really counting down the days just this past week... some aspects of her visit WERE a sweet surprise to me: how rich, how restful, how filling, how easy, how joyful, how simple, how testimonial, how affirmative, how good.
