F is for....

Faraway Friends. Tonight I got to do some instant messaging with my dear friend in London. It was a trying day today for me on so many levels. And it was wonderful to see her log on to her computer and get to talk with her....almost as if she was here. Almost! I sit here tonight with a big smile on my face and my heart feeling ever so much lighter because I have shared my burdens and struggles with her and she understood them...and as always...had wonderful insight and advice for me. This time since she moved away has been a real challenge for both of us. I know she has struggled mightily being in a new country, new friends, new schools, new roads...and I have struggled mightily without her to be my walking partner and the voice on the other end of the phone as we simultaneously scrubbed our toilets and cleaned our houses! I have missed her presence at our weekly bible study and I have missed her smiling face dropping by my house! I think the last few months have been a real trial for both of us and we miss each other desperately! I give her a hard time about coming home, without fail, every time I talk to her. I am so eager to see her smiling face again and share deep conversations over pumpkin lattes! Anyway. Tonight I got to talk with my dear, dear friend. And I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders and shared and that new insight was breathed into me and that God just really, really blessed me with that short bit of conversation. I miss her so terribly. I am blessed with wonderful, wonderful friends here...don't get me wrong. God has seen to it that I am loved and loved much. I don't doubt that for a second. But this girl is special. She's a firecracker like myself. Sort of like a weird twin! We DO look an AWFUL lot alike! We love the same things and love the same, awesome, wonderful God. And we just seem to click in this crazy world. I love her dearly and I cannot wait until she is closer than an instant message. I want her back here....almost in my own backyard. But in the meantime, the Lord blessed me tonight. He woke my dear friend up early (she's so faithful that way)...and brought her to log on to her computer and we were able to spill out our hearts and touch base and lift each other up. And I am going to bed with a smile on my face tonight. The very first one I think...all day long! Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of friendship and those special people that you plant in our lives!