A Divinely Appointed Random Happenstance of Friendship

Every time I think of you, I thank my God. – Philippians 1:3

This weekend (well, Monday) on the East Coast we are being hit with Hurricane Sandy, which has picked up speed as it gets closer to making landfall between New Jersey and Delaware. My mother apparently thinks the eye will pass right through DC because she worries, as all mothers do. I was able to get together with friends I had made through choir at church starting in 2007. I’ve stayed friends with them through these years, in spite of changes (marriages, kids, moving, etc.) and it was the idea of my friend Nate who moved to Denver to get everyone together because he missed us, and we were falling apart. Anne came up from South Carolina. Both are stuck here longer due to Sandy.

The plan was to do church together yesterday (I don’t know who still regularly attends the church we started in because I go online or visit other churches. Something is “missing” from it now…the church has changed. I don’t like this change), then lunch, then apple picking/pumpkin patch. Sandy changed alladat.

Some of us went to church, then we went to brunch and did wine/grocery shopping. (Okay, I did grocery shopping.) We then went to two friends’ house (is that correct grammar?) to have wine and cheese. A lot of wine. Two glasses of wine gets me tipsy. I had a little over 3 glasses, sang Gospel music, and laughed a lot. We ended with a good group prayer for everyone. Christian liberty ROCKS!

I am blogging about this today because I was struck with how I came to be in this group. It was a random invitation to a house party after we sang in church one Sunday night. I was told to not tell anyone. I felt kind of exclusive, but later found out that a) not everyone in choir at the time was invited because everyone wasn’t cool with everyone and b) there was booze there, so some people would get all church-y about liquor. I had a nice time. Out of that gathering, I made friends with this group that got together this weekend. The group is a lot larger than we were this weekend, but it was great seeing everyone who came. This group is something else, though.

There are stories here. Stories of pain, sharing, joys, downs, and ups. I can be myself with this group. I can tell them that I danced the night before in a club for Halloween and wound up having a nice dance with a transvestite, and there’s no judgment, just laughing. (Yeah, that happened.) There is shared history with these people and it goes back farther than my time here. I am simply amazed with them, their journeys, our shared experiences with God through it all, and how we just simply love on each other. Some have pulled away, and that’s fine, but we’re letting them go with the same grace with which we’ll allow them back. I have been blessed by this group, and while I’m not close with all of them, it’s comforting to know that I can pick up the phone and talk to most of them like no time has passed, even if it’s been months. I like how I can have conversations about life and be honest about it, open, and messy, with them as my friends who I met in a church choir. You usually find people “keeping it nice and together” from church, but for my experience, it’s been boldly real. You want hardcore real friendships with people who are from vastly different backgrounds and beliefs, but who make it work through Christ to create a beautiful harmony? It’s right here, and I’m so glad I’m in it. I haven’t had something like this since the Party Posse (I did not name the group) in Baltimore from 2002-2006. It felt great to be there with everyone yesterday. I look forward to Denver in June/July, but pray we’ll get together before then.

It was the kind of connection and friendship I truly needed at the time, and still need today. I’m grateful for it. I love y’all. It felt random in 2007, but it was nothing but God placing me in the right place at the right time. Like He always does.

I love you my friend for giving to me, for being my confidant, for letting me be me.
For sharing your heart, for taking a stand. I want to be like you. I love you, my friend.

I’ll never forget the secrets we kept. The stories we told and the nights we never slept.
The tears that we cried, the heartaches we shared. Somehow gave me hope when it seemed no one cared.

There’ve been times I felt my life was coming to an end. You stood by me, my friend.
I thank God for sending someone like you to me. I’m glad we’ve got each other…

Tags: Friends

Category: About Me, Christianity, Friends