Lunch with the Ellisons

Today Katie and I went to lunch with Nina and Aaliyah Ellison and Nina's mom, Ms. Nichols. The lunch was provided by the women of Nina's church for the women of the church. The tea luncheon was held to help the women bond and to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

There was singing, laughing, crying, good food, good conversation, excellent lessons and great friends. Katie and I were a little out of our element since the worship part of the lunch was different than anything we experience in our own church, but we felt the Spirit and cried a little together.

I am grateful for Nina Ellison and her daughter Aaliyah. Katie (aka Mallet) and Aaliyah (aka Ninja) became friends last year playing volleyball. They have truly become best friends by sharing their very different perspectives on some issues and relishing their very similar views on others. They bond over their love of music, marching band, and boys. But they are good examples to one another. It isn't often that a parent finds another parent who they trust implicitly with their own children. And I feel that way about Nina. I know not only will Katie be loved and cared about while in their home, but she has a fine example to look up to in Nina.

So for the Stringham girls we learned that Christmas isn't about what we buy for one another, but it about what we give to one another in our time, our service, our love and our examples. We found all of that in the Ellisons and are thankful that we got to spend a girly afternoon together.