Buddy and I decided to share our Christmas gift exchange in November this year.
We did a video call because she wanted to see my reaction when I opened her gift to me.
I was so surprised to find a beautiful book she had written about our adventures spanning over three decades.
But then I looked at the author’s name at the bottom and it was mine! I started laughing thinking she created a fake book cover as a joke.
I opened it and there was a table of contents titling all of our fun stories: Communion Wine Comedy…Kudzu Ice Cream Song…Real Estate Rap Battles…Gluten-Free Laugh Therapy…AND MORE.
All 238 pages held our memorable moments.
“How long did it take you to write this?”
“About an hour.”
I looked at her in disbelief as she tried to keep a straight face. Then she confessed.
“Okay, okay…I answered a bunch of questions and then AI wrote it. The funny thing is, the stories are close, but some of the details are exaggerated or mixed together. For example, AI wrote the story of our friend Jim in one chapter, our whiskey tasting story in another chapter, and then later in the book, Jim magically becomes your husband and is pouring both of us whiskey.”
I started laughing so hard, I was crying.
***
It’s been fun to read and relive our adventures even if they aren’t completely accurate. Her sweet book is dear to my heart, reminding me how much life we’ve shared together— fun and hard times.
This gift also made me consider how AI produces scary fast results.
And while it can pump out a book, it can’t produce the precious times that made our amazing friendship. It can’t feel the joy I feel remembering these moments. Simply put, it can’t replicate human experience, creativity or even tell our stories the way we do. In fact, the book takes so long to get to the punchline, it’s no longer funny when you get there—which could be said about my jokes…but I digress.
AI can’’t deliver any of this despite how smart it gets.
And while we value quick information and immediate results, waiting does something profound to the human soul.
Waiting exposes impatience and reveals what’s truly hidden in our hearts.
It affords us the opportunity to harness self-control.
Waiting gives us a chance at hopeful anticipation—if we allow it to.
And if we are truly willing, it will bring us closer to God. It will hold a space where He can sit with us in the interlude.
Spiritual growth doesn’t arrive through the swift and artificial.
Still, I will read the beautiful book that Buddy created just for me, even if the stories are drawn out, not completely accurate, and not penned personally by her. I will linger with the memories that come. I will laugh, cry, smile, savor, and wait to see how this book will end.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… (Psalm 37: 7)
