I spied her as I entered the cafe area of the bookstore; thankful for her patience as she waited for my arrival. While heading toward our agreed upon meeting spot, I had taken a wrong turn (in my own hometown!) Hastily and frantically, I corrected the error and prayed that my friend would not grow impatient in her waiting.
This anticipated coffee date was no routine gathering between two women. It was an encounter of two childhood friends after forty years of life’s detours leading us to different paths. After my family picked up from our neighboring house and planted ourselves in the alternate jr. high district, our friendship withered. Truthfully, those tween years often stretch relationships. Identities shift, new interests emerge. Perhaps we had begun that transition also. Although together again in high school, new friendships had bloomed; creating different horizons for us.
Thoughts of my friend entered my mind intermittently during those forty years. Joyful memories of long hot summer days playing games, swimming, sleepovers; at times living in a world created by the imaginations of innocent minds. What was she doing now? Where does she live? Does she have kids?
Two years ago, we reconnected on social media. Truly a blessing, yet, a bit daunting. How do you pour out forty years of a life online?
Since social media provided a glimpse into our lives, our common interests were revealed. Leaning toward a taste for coffee beverages, finding refuge in books, and rooting our lives in Jesus led to a decision-to meet at a Christian bookstore the next time I made the trip home.
So on that day, after my frantic journey, I spied her. Surreal. The embrace affirmed our roots remained deep; despite the lost connection. And we talked….for hours. Stories exchanged of walking in deserts, stung by thorns, feeling parched and, yet, blessed by the beauty of redemption and restoration blooming in other seasons.
One never knows the ways God moves through us as we wander in and out of each other’s lives. But what we do know is that in some way fruit is produced. Even if it takes forty years to see the abundance.
This post is written for the Five Minute Friday Writing prompt. Come join us! http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/
exploring sacred connections with God and each otherr
Almost wrote on my own reunion with my school friend after 35 years. God knew you were doing it. Like bulbs buried deep in the ground, beauty blooms in it’s due time. I’m next to you on FMF #50
Mary, I almost used that exact analogy of the bulbs but didn’t. You said it well! Thanks for stopping by!
THIS: “One never knows the ways God moves through us as we wander in and out of each other’s lives. But what we do know is that in some way fruit is produced. Even if it takes forty years to see the abundance.”
Stephanie, I’m so glad you were able to reconnect, and I loved reading this post!
And I envy you, because my past – all of it, including the ephemera of photos and such, is flat gone. Even the memories have faded under the weight of years and fell experience, to faint shadows, unreliable and often untraceable.
#1 at FMF this week.
http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/03/your-dying-spouse-285-brutal-flickering.html
That must have been so nice, to reconnect with your friend! I reconnected with a close high school friend via FB about 5 years ago, and then one summer when our family went back “home” (PEI, where I was born), I met my friend at an art gallery where she shows her handmade rugs. It was so great to see her again (neither of us had changed a bit! 🙂 ) and make our online connection “real” again.
I’m glad to see what a blessing this reunion was for you and your friend; thanks for telling us about it. Yes, we really never know what God’s doing behind the scenes to weave our paths back together.
Isn’t it fun reconnecting in a new season with an old friend? I’m so glad that social media has made that a possibility.
This is a beautiful take on the friend prompt this week! I’ve started bumping into old classmates, and I’m often surprised by their kindness. The years tend to soften the differences I perceived we had way back when. Your neighbor at #fmf.
Reconnecting is like a breath of fresh air. Glad it happened for you. #FMF