Common Ground

Today I am thankful for common ground.

We buy our milk from a Mennonite family that lives north of town.  I really like them, they are kind and thoughtful and helpful and friendly.  Sometimes, it feels  as though our different beliefs are too big of a barrier to us being good friends.  This morning, I called to ask if I could come out and pick up milk, and the wife said to come on out.  We have been out of milk for a couple of days, the last time I picked up milk was December 23.  I loaded up my empty jugs and headed her way.

Dale - the husband - was working on the new addition on their home when I arrived.  I like that, because I can talk to him about construction, and we can carry on a good conversation.  But he hurried me into the house, saying, "they're waiting for you."  I didn't want to keep Cindy waiting if she had something else she needed to do.

I found Cindy, not in the kitchen, where she usually is, but on the couch, with a brand new baby.  A baby!  A sweet little boy, with dark wispy hair.  He was born on Christmas Eve, the day after I saw her last.  She had wanted to surprise me.

Together, we were pregnant, all through the end of summer - when I first sarted buying milk from them - and then through the long fall, when I kept thinking I was going to have my baby "any day now!" (but didn't until the beginning of November).  We had this singular experience in common, and it gave us something to talk about.  We talked about the weather, and our children. We talked about doctors and midwives.  We talked about pregnancy and labor and babies.  And we became friends.

As he was helping me carry my four gallons of milk to the car, Dale said, "She has just been waiting for you to call, she couldn't wait to surprise you and show you the baby."  Sometimes barriers are real, but sometimes they are all in my head.  I am thankful for common ground.

What are you blessed with today?