There are so many people in my life that I have gleaned from. So many have touched my life in ways that have changed me, made me stop and take notice, or just made me enjoy life and their company. However, there are 3 people whom I would classify under "true friendship" with my above definition and I'd like you to meet them :)
This is Rachel. I will be honest and say there haven't been many of what I call "Samuel moments" in my life. By that term, I mean a moment where I couldn't hear God more loudly if he were yelling in my ear 2 millimeters away. I met Rachel through work. We are the same age (ok ok, I'm 6 1/2 months older-you happy, Rach?) and don't have too much in common except for our love for The Office, good food, our Heavenly Father, and our children. I was their nurse and I had never really met them. However, that night, God pressed on my heart to pray with them over their son. I struggled....I mean REALLY struggled with that. There I was going through the motions of my job while having this screaming match with God in my head. "Um...God I don't know them. I could lose my job. Why me? No way. You want me to what??" Many times I think back to that night and wonder what I must have looked like to them. I was literally...physically...shaking. I tried to go out the door several times to go about my night as usual, but physically could not. God himself might as well have been standing for all to see in front of the door refusing to let me leave until I obeyed cause that's how powerful it felt. I turned and sat down and don't remember anything I said (maybe they do). All I remember is that I did what God asked me to and he blessed me...AMAZINGLY...with the friendship I have in Rachel. She has taught me that life is a blessing. To live every day to the fullest and that some things just aren't really that important. Make time for the things I don't think I have time for and never EVER quit praying for something you desperately want and need just because it might appear (or because someone tells me) it's hopeless. My God is a big God and he always can when man cannot. She has been the picture to me of boldly going before the throne of grace pleading for his mercy. What an amazing thing to learn and put into action. I love you, Rach.
This is Jenny. She is a coworker of mine and we are two peas in a pod. We are both neat freaks, hate clutter, love to be creative, have a touch of OCD, and see eye to eye about 99.999% of the time. She has taught me that I don't have to be in control of everything. I'm not one for cliches but she has exemplified to me the phrase "let go and let God." If there is a huge flaw about me (and there is...actually, there ARE...many many), it is that I HAVE to be in control. I think it's gotten worse the more children I've had, but yes...I like my ducks and I like them nice and straight...in a row :) She just gave birth to the precious little girl you see in this most recent family picture. She had a miscarriage not long after I found out I was pregnant with Maggie. When she found out she was pregnant again her joy quickly turned to sorrow when she started having complications. By 23 weeks, she went into labor and was immediately put on bed rest. Now, I can imagine myself on bedrest with a little one running around, and my OCD on the rampage so I didn't know at the time how she was possibly going to make it to term. She decided though that it didn't matter what her house looked like, who's favorite shirt was clean or that dinner was amazing that night. The important thing was that little Emery stay put until it was safe for her to come be a part of their family. She followed orders and let others do for her, trusting that God would provide the meals, the childcare, the money as she wasn't able to work, and the sanity to sustain doing something that every fiber of her being hated (inactivity). I KNOW how hard that was. I hate letting other people do the things I feel I am supposed to be doing for my family or myself. I can only imagine feeling that way for months on end. But she did it and by the grace of God Emery came into this world at a perfect 37 weeks. She reminds me that God gives me strength to do what I only thought I couldn't. I don't have to be in control, and everytime, He will do it better than I ever could have on my own. I can leave things in his hands knowing he desires for me "far more than I could ever ask or imagine."
And last but certainly not least, is Stephanie. We love telling people our "how'd you meet" story. Our husbands both love computer games and they were at one time very much into a certain online "war" game known as Men Of God. Brian came home one day and informed me we were going out to dinner with the family of this guy he met online. I looked at my husband like he had lost his ever lovin' mind! "You want us to meet up with some random people you met online?!?!" "Who are you and what have you done with my husband??!!?" Well, turns out, it was the best online hook up there ever was :) I love this girl! She is so much fun and without a doubt who I will call if I need something at 2 in the morning. She buys me milk because she knows I'm out or brings me coffee cause she knows I worked the night before and need a pick me up. She is always thinking of others. Probably her biggest quality I love is her ability to persevere and push on when times are anything but easy . Her husband was called up to active duty in April of 2009 when her youngest was only 8 months old. He went to Iraq for 6 months and then was stationed in San Diego for another 6...turned into 11 months for a grand total of 17 months separation. While he was serving our country she somehow managed to hold down the fort, pay the bills, work a full time job from home, send their oldest off to Kindergarten, deal with the drama that comes with 3 girls, have a 1st birthday celebration for the youngest, and be pregnant with their 4th. I could go on and on about what she was able to get done and I'm in awe of it all. She encourages me to get up and get moving, to do what I can do today and not procrastinate. She challenges me to put off laziness and do my best at what I am able. I am happy to say that her better half is home now and they are about to welcome their 4th child...a BOY, finally :)So there you have it...my besties and why I love them. They challenge me to be and give my best and for that I am forever grateful. I know they love me and my family as if we were their own. I sincerely hope you are as blessed as I am to have someone you can call your "true friend."
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3 comments:
Such a sweet tribute to good friends!
Thats beautiful! I love you too my dear friend!!! Don't know what I would do without you!
Here's what I remember about that night. I was holding Abel in that hideous plastic hospital recliner. Adam was in the room as well. It was very cold out still, either February or March. We were at round 2 or 3 of chemo, and I was in deep mourning because the sweet baby Abel I had known and loved was long gone because of the brain injury. Almost all of my supposed friends had kept their distance from me, as though tragedy is contagious. My grief was black and impregnable.
That night, you said that you didn't want to overstep your bounds as Abel's nurse but that you would like to pray with us. So we prayed together. I thought, "That was nice of her," but figured that would be it. I didn't expect what happened in the days and weeks that followed - you kept reaching out to me and my family, again and again, until before I knew it I had gained a friend in my darkest of days that would help sustain me in those to come. How does THAT happen? Not only did your friendship help me survive those nightmarish months in God's Ghetto, but it has been such a source of refreshing and joy to me in the years since.
You are my hero, sweet Candice. Love you like crazy.
Rachel
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