Renewed friendships

Have you ever stopped and thought about how God will bring certain people in and out of your life over the years?

I was thinking about that the other day as I sat talking on the phone with my friend Heather. We have known each other since freshman year in college. We were great friends all through college and she was there during all the very rough times I went through. She was there for me during my sister's lung transplant freshman year, she was there for me during all the random difficult times dealing with other friends and family, she was there for me when my dad was hurt. All the rough times I went through in college, Heather was there for me to talk to and get an outsider's opinion. God knew what he was doing when He brought her into my life. But then we graduated and I moved to Wisconsin and she moved to California. We would email every once in a while but really we hardly ever talked to each other. Three years of limited contact with Heather and yet we were still friends. It is interesting to me how God allowed her to be there for me through all those time in college and yet when Jennie died, we weren't really in contact with each other. I emailed her and told her, but I think that was about it. (Now if you are reading this Heather and remember differently...correct me please)

And now almost 4 years after graduating from college we are close friends again. Interestingly enough, it took me moving to Peru for God to allow our friendship to become what it was before. It is cool to see how we both needed those 3 years away from each other to grow into the women we are now. It has been great to have my friendship back with Heather. She is a dear friend and so encouraging to talk to. God knew exactly what He was doing when He allowed her back into my life.

God does the same thing with other people. Sometimes He brings them back and you notice but life continues on as usual...other times He brings them back and you just have to stop and ask, "Lord, why have you brought this person back into my life? Why after such a long time have you allowed this friendship to be renewed?" Those are the questions I ask myself as I once again realize how small this world really is. You might think that it is a small world where you live, but let me tell you, once you step foot into the world of missions....the world gets so much smaller. God just continually blows my mind with how we are all interconnected.

I am looking forward to hopefully one day, in the near-ish future, understanding a little better why God has brought certain people back into my life. But until then I guess the best thing to do, is to just enjoy the renewed friendships and wait for God to eventually fill me in on His plan. =)

P.S. I finally have my hammock up and will hopefully take a picture soon for you all to see!