how does visiting a friend at work help us love where we live? 

kathleen bakes cakes in her apartment. katie edits books downtown. stan cleans teeth. carla works with numbers for a global clothing company. chase makes your coffee choice as he saves for college. 

over small talk we learn what our friends do in our cities. we hear of their promotions, long hours, office drama, board meetings, how long they've been with the company, and how they landed the job in the first place. but what if we stopped by? what if we showed up in the very place where they are making a difference? what if we met their co-workers and they got to prove they have a life outside of work!? 

we can picture their living space and places we've dined together, but can we picture where they are most of the week?

the next time you schedule time together, meet where they work. invite them over to your headquarters. even if headquarters is home! 

perks of visiting a friend at work:

can i just say how proud i am of you? it's one thing to live and work and go to school, buy groceries, pay bills, take care of the family, the pet, and the plants. it's a whole other thing to love others. 

you, friends continue to teach me and show me that when we give and share, God gives us more. our Compassion International son, Saddam, continues to teach us this each time we visit. we have an abundance because God intends for us to give it away to others. how does this pertain to our time? don't we all have the same amount? yes we do.

but i believe that how we spend our time determines how we see our time. 

do you know what two hours on a monday night, us keeping their baby so they can have a much-needed date night does to our time? we don't lose anything, they gain conversation and warm food! 

do you know that when our floors were flooded and family routine was unstable, the invitation to come over to their home, build a lego spaceship together and eat comfort food was just what we needed and we didn't even know what we needed! we got recharged because they gave us their time. 

i can tell you about far more days when i kept all my time to myself in scarcity, in selfishness. yet, i can remember and relish in the moments when i slowed down to give time. 

this might be one that starts with...

did anything ever happen impromptu during the summers when you were growing up? 

my parents would get a call from a farmer friend that they could come and pick corn from his field. my sisters and i knew what we were doing the next evening on the front porch. shuckin' corn! i was a pro with the husk, but those silks got me all frustrated! we'd eat a good bit that summer, freeze some and give some away. 

sunday nights after church we'd get crazy and go get ice cream at the dairy queen or meet up at the city sports field for a game of softball! word always got around.

impromptu is not my style, but i want it to be. okay. maybe impromptu with a wee bit of preparedness! 

you've been rocking intentionality all summer! here are a few impromptus: