Today I am thankful for warmth around a fire pit.

11.19.2020

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Tonight my prayer group gathered around a backyard fire pit. We chatted and caught up, shared about our lives, and prayed together. I freaking love these women. I love that we can be totally real and vulnerable with each other, and we can also joke and laugh until our sides ache. I love that we lift each other up in prayer and sincerely care about what’s happening in each other’s lives. We try to meet every two weeks, and when we miss a week or two, I feel a definite void.

It was a beautiful night in Phoenix. Even without daylight savings time, it gets dark pretty early in Arizona these days. By the time we gathered at 6:30 tonight, the sun had been down for a good hour already. The air was still and neither hot nor cold. It was pretty much a perfect night. I really like fire pit fires. Tonight’s fire shone with brilliant shades of many colors. It crackled a bit here and there and died down to glowing embers as the night wore on. I love the smell of an outdoor fire and even kind of enjoy when my clothes hold on to that smoky scent hours later.

I’m especially thankful for the warmth of tonight’s fire. Not so much the warmth coming from the actual flames themselves, although it did feel nice as the night grew progressively cooler. What I’m really thankful for is the warmth that surrounded the fire tonight – the warmth that is palpable when I’m with treasured friends. I’m not sure how I got so gosh darn blessed to find these women, but I’m so very glad that I did