Forgive me for abandoning you for the better part of this week. While Betsy was here, I pretty much ignored my little laptop, minus work and writing deadlines, and then yesterday after she left, I thought a lot.

Well, I also did my laundry and gathered supplies for Crossroads Church‘s service last night and worked on a new book proposal and blogged about the AMAZING things that Mocha Club has going on.

But I mostly thought.

I wish you were here today. The weather is “just beyond” [in the words of Rachel Zoe] and the first comment on everyone’s lips is how gorgeous it is outside. I’m talking sunny and 60 breezy degrees. It’s the most summer-like weather I have known in this country.

And I want you to experience this with me.

I think that is what I loved most about Betsy being here. I was finally able to invite someone from home into this world. She walked the same streets I do everyday, she hung out with my friends and was finally able to put faces with names and stories. She tasted the difference in the cheddar. She lived my life for five days.

But on a deeper level, having one of my best friends here for five solid days meant I had to [got to?] talk about some real stuff and a few hard moments and some thoughts on the future and invite Betsy into that.

It’s hard to feel alone in a foreign country. It’s hard to be halfway through this season here and have tons of thoughts rolling around in my head but wonder if talking about those outloud would hurt the feelings, or raise the hopes, of newish friends. Having Betsy here gave me opportunities to have face-to-face conversations about what is going on in my head with someone who knows a lot of depth and width of my life.

So I invited her in. I invited her into my city, my home, my friendships, my church, my thoughts, my fears, my hopes, and my hurts. In some ways, I think I was able to ignore some things before she was here because I didn’t have to process them with anyone. But when your BFF is staring you in the face, it’s hard to pretend.

It was an awesome week and I’m super sad she’s gone. I wish I could keep shipping friends and family over to see this world of mine. It’s really wonderful. And hard. And fun. And challenging. And, above all else, Edinburgh is a gift. And I want to share that gift with my people.

Can you think of areas of your life where you need to invite someone in? Maybe a real place or maybe just a situation or conversation. Or will you share a time, like this week with Betsy, when you invited someone in and it made all the difference?