mj's bachelorette weekend // what time can teach

Soon after moving to Atlanta, I joined a bible study that quickly became more than a group of girls simply meeting every Tuesday night. We realized early on that we were all in the same spot: in a new city, fresh out of college, looking for friends. So, while I thought it would be a weekly group that would teach me what a relationship with Christ looks like after college, it was so much more than that.

We became one another's closest friends in a big city. We became one another's Friday and Saturday nights, every weekend. One another's partners to explore Atlanta, try new things and navigate corporate America. We did things together that you'd typically do with your boyfriends while crying about ex-boyfriends and laughing about first dates.

It was a beautiful time in life where we were all, briefly, in the exact same spot and needed each other in a freshman-year-of-college-sort-of-way.

And time has changed us. Not in a bad way, but in the way you'd expect - some of us have left town, others have gotten married, others engaged. We've grown up a little bit - more sure of who we are and less scared of life.

But this weekend, we were back together as one of our own, Mary Jo, celebrated her bachelorette party in Atlanta. 

It was a packed weekend full of tasty dinners (at Salt Yard and King and Duke. Yum!), brunch at Murphy's, manicures and pedicures, an accidental crashing of a fraternity party, late night dancing and tons of laughing. 

And what we found is that even though time has passed, it can't touch the bonds we created. We will never again be the exact same people, in the same situations, as we were two years ago. That time is sacred - we needed one another in a real, beautiful way. And to rely on each other so deeply creates a bond that time doesn't erode, but instead fortifies. 

Where we'll go next - who knows? Mary Jo is off to Texas after her wedding, starting fresh again in a new city. Who knows where we'll all land in the next few years, but I'm certain time will only continue to remind us just how important our years in Atlanta have been.

Hope you had a great weekend!