“I just need a change of scenery, need to do something different,” I stated to a friend.

“Me too,” she replied.

We both were feeling the weight of winter, the doldrums of cold and darkness and more cold. The kids were too cooped up and going stir crazy, making mom go crazy.

She’s the kind of friend I can tell my struggles too and she gets it. She knows I get her too. And what I love about her is when I told her this, she was like, well, let’s go somewhere.

A little while later, we were online finding a VRBO not too far away that would fit our two families. I’ve never pulled off a vacation that quickly. We tend to be planners, not spontaneous,  jump in the car and go kind of people. It was fun just to plan something that fast and have something different to do.

Andrew took a couple days vacation, I canceled everything on the calendar, we threw clothes in bags and ran to the grocery store.

Two days later we were driving through a snow storm! A drive that should have taken 2 1/2 hours, took four through blinding snow and unplowed roads. But we made it.

We found a cabin nestled in the Mississippi River bluffs in the middle of nowhere Iowa. Didn’t really matter where we went, just that we went. But it was beautiful! And it was priceless to be with family and friends!

We did nothing and it was glorious! We ate, played games, watched movies, and stayed inside by the fire for two days. Going on vacation can be stressful, going with other families can be a lot to navigate, but not with these people. We get each other. We’re comfortable just sitting together or doing our own thing. And, very importantly, our kids love each other. They played together the entire time without fights or issue and loved every minute together.

We had some amazing laughs too, playing charades. Laughing with friends is such good medicine!

When we were leaving, her daughter said to mine, “I don’t want to leave this place. And even more, I don’t want to leave you.”

I felt the same way.

Everyone needs people to do life with. This life isn’t easy. We need people who get us, who love us, who see our need and take action. We need people who will tell us the truth and hold us accountable. We need people who will walk alongside us in trouble and in joy.

If you don’t have people like that in your life, be those people to someone else. Pray God gives you those people and pray he shows you who he wants you to come alongside. You’ll never regret it!