I went to church this morning with my friend Kristin and it was an emotional service. It hit me how we had been placed in each other's lives at the time that we were in the way that we were for a reason. It's so funny to me to look at things in hindsight and see how the puzzle pieces fit together. I have felt very alone in my faith for a long time. Not many of my friends are "active" Christians, including my husband. When I first started going to my new church, about this time last year, I told Lance that I really wanted him to join me on this walk. He agreed that he would participate and go to church, but the fact is that he just doesn't. Pretty much on any given Sunday, if you ask him if he'd like to go to church, there's always something else he'd rather do. I knew this about him when I married him, but I also know that if I push him, it's not going to help. I just keep praying that he'll join me and maybe one of these days I'll be surprised. Then, last summer, shortly after my falling out with my former friend, I met Kristin at the pre-Kindergarten play dates. She and I hit it off immediately and we even spent the weekend before school started cleaning up the Kindergarten playground together. That's when I learned that her walk with God was very similar to mine. She was raised in a more traditional type of church (Catholic) as was I (Presbyterian). We were taught all about God and Jesus, but in a more ritualistic manner than what we were experiencing at our new churches. We talked about our husbands and how hers had recently started becoming active in the church and it gave me hope. These deep conversations really helped solidify in my mind that she was a friend that was brought into my life at a certain time and in a certain way.
As I'm on my way home from church today, I was thinking about my friend Melissa and her family. I'm currently planning a baby shower for her impending #2, who's arrival is expected in late May. I'm so excited to plan this for her because I've really gotten to know what a special person she is over the past year. I'm so excited for the changes she is going to experience. She's having a little boy, so we'll have even more in common. She's such a great friend. She's been there for me to vent to, to cry on her shoulder, and to discuss life in general. She's a terrific mom and a terrific friend. Her daughter is in Bennett's playgroup and we've just really bonded over pacifiers, tantrums, and shopping! :) She's a very real person, not putting up a fake exterior. When I was struggling with losing my friendship last year, she really reached out to me to let me know that I wasn't alone and that she was there. That meant so much to me. She's a "go to" person in a time of need and also when you just want to relax and have a good time.
As I was pulling onto my street, my phone rang and it was her. Wanting to know if we had any plans that night because she thought it would be good to get the kids together to play (they have both been essentially quarantined for weeks!) and to have some dinner. It was one of those casual invitations that's just delightful! We were not required to bring a thing but ourselves and when we got there, the kids played nicely together while the adults got to hang out and talk. We stayed WAAAAYY past the kids' bedtimes, but that's okay. Everyone was having fun! It's so nice to have friends that you can just hang out with at a moment's notice. It's even nicer when our husbands like to hang out and have things in common. I love that!I'll say that my prayers have been answered overwhelmingly. Not just with these two wonderful ladies, but with so many others that have either been in my life for a while and I've gotten closer to, or by new friends that have been brought into my life. I feel so blessed.
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