Be thankful on paper, week the first.
I sent out two thank you notes yesterday addressed to three people. [It’s almost like a riddle!]
One thank you was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. jD and Lauren and the second to Ms. Paige. The thank you notes were simplicity at its finest and said only the following:
I am fairly certain that first call would be miserable without you. Thank you for being my friend(s)!
True story. I think that sums it up.
My first call as a single pastor in rural Minnesota would be incredibly lonely, filled with despair, and miserable without these three friends [exaggeration noted] who were wonderfully already in place when I arrived to Austin. But seriously, if I didn’t have these colleagues in the form of such wonderful friends, things would be so incredibly different. We can call each other at any point to discuss certain situations, possible sermon topics, and the unique aspects of our congregations. They’re up for coffee dates, afternoon lunches, and television viewing on Sunday evenings. We can be brutally honest with each other, say naughty words [except for Paige. she doesn’t swear.], and simply be ourselves without our pastor hats on. We go to pumpkin patches, synod functions, and might polar plunge. We’re that cool.
And for that and for them I am so incredibly thankful.
there's no place like gnome. 
awesome to have friends in lonely places!