A friend of mine had a dream to celebrate her
40th birthday at the beach with a few of her closest girlfriends. So she saved
her money, rented a 12 bedroom beach house in North Topsail Beach, NC for a
week and invited every lady friend she has across the country to join her.
Cool idea, huh? If you know Caroline TeSelle, the idea makes sense. For
as long as I have known Caroline (and her husband, Greg), they have always been
about loving Jesus and loving people and in so doing they create community wherever
they go. I was honored to be on the receiving end of Caroline's invitation and
blessed enough that all the details seemed to work themselves out for 5 of us
Marylanders to travel down to represent the Mt. Oak church era of Greg and
Caroline's life. Four days away at the beach with a few of my closest
girlfriends was amazing in itself, but that was just the beginning of "the
amazing". Caroline brought together 22 ladies from 7 states that connected
in ways that are only possible when Jesus is at the heart of it.
Caroline has
been one of my most consistent cheerleaders as I have walked my Breast Cancer
journey. She has supported me with emails, texts, handwritten notes, a
post on her blog, and a personal TeSelle family visit (complete with TeSelle
hugs). But perhaps the way she touched me most was in her asking her friends to
send handwritten notes and cards to me in the mail. What kind of friend does
that? Oh yeah, the kind that invites all of her friends to the beach for
a week. And what kind of friends actually do send cards to someone they have
never met just because someone asks them to? Caroline's friends and now that I
have met a few of them I am no longer surprised at all! The trip to NC gave me
the opportunity to meet these friends of Caroline's that prayed for me and sent
me such encouraging words.
The time away
at the beach with these ladies was rich with conversation as we all sought to
know each other and learn how each of us knew Caroline. As we all shared
stories about the impact that Caroline (and Greg) have had on our lives, I
realized that community like the kind I experienced under their leadership over
15 years ago which has continued on with some of our closest friends has played
such an important role in my journey through cancer. God's provision came
through those around us that have loved us so well. I am forever blessed
that I never walked the journey alone.
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