Take A Chance

Today is my penpal's birthday. She is two years older than me. We have been writing to one another since 1974. She was Mary Hutchison then. She and her family were camping in the tent trailer next to ours one weekend at Laurel Hill State Park. It rained most of the weekend. But she and I just clicked. We had so much fun. At the end of the weekend I asked if I could have her address to write to her. We have been writing ever since. We have seen each other only a handful of times since then. When I was 18, at both of our weddings (she was a bridesmaid in mine), and when she was pregnant with her first child, daughter Adeline. That is the last time I saw her. Five children later, she currently lives in Colorado with her physician husband. Ayla has seen her more recently when Mary and her husband of 26 years, Gary Pearson, visited her in Bar Harbor while they were on vacation. How wonderful that my penpal got to meet my daughter!

Mary is the wedding expert of late. She has attended three as mother of the bride in the last year as daughters Addie, Maggie and Annick all became wives within months of each other. Each wedding was unique and precious. And Mary, of course, looked amazing in them.

The reason I bring Mary up is because my friendship with her is from a chance meeting. Seriously what are the odds that two little girls, one from Ohio and one from Pennsylvania, would meet in the Appalachian hills one weekend and continue to keep in touch 41 years later? Her letters are gems to me and tell the story of her life from that moment on. She had a great influence in my life. She absolutely loved the Lord and shared Him with me frequently in word and in the art she created. She glows Jesus. You want to know Him better because of the way she speaks about Him. She's contagious. Throughout the years she gave me advice, correction and encouragement. She is the one who told me about the Walk to Emmaus, which ended up changing your Daddy's life. That chance meeting all those years ago, has most certainly impacted my life.

We want you young couples to be open to chance meetings. Every soul you meet could be your next dear friend; could be one that introduces something refreshing to your faith; could be one who uplifts you; could be one you confide in for the rest of your life. So take care to pause in this lifetime long enough to love the ones God places in your path. This world has more than 7 billion people in it, and God has selected just the ones you need to meet, love, learn from and teach. You have a lifetime of dear friendships ahead. So open yourselves up to the Holy Spirit and look around you into the faces the children of God. You will be deeply blessed by it.

Discussion: Tell about your longest and dearest friendship. Tell about a chance meeting and how it impacted you.

Prayer: Lord God, Your plan is amazing, perfect and precious. We glorify Your name for You are Holy! You have set our days and thusly the journey we will take, people we will meet and circumstances we'll face. We pray we will be a blessing to others and will absorb all we need to from those you want to bless us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Thank You For Being A Friend

We have a style dress for the bridesmaids! I understand we had a tie between two dresses that the bridesmaids liked and Cristina, the maid of honor, broke the tie. Style F14867, long sheer chiffon dress with beaded neckline won the vote! I love how the girls all tried the dresses on and took pictures to show you what they looked like. The girls will be gorgeous in them. Now it is just a matter of sizing and ordering for each of them. They will look lovely standing on the deck off the Manatee River as witnesses to your wedding.

Your Daddy and I were talking about how each girl has had such an impact in your life. I love that each will be wearing a different color, but all will be wearing the same style. To me it compliments your relationship with them. They all have the same special place in your heart, but each one became a friend with you on this journey of life in different locales, has a different personality and has made sweet memories with you. Lindsey as the precious cousin from Iowa you grew up with as two "squirrels in a pot;" Rebecca, your middle school through senior year buddy from Wisconsin; Mary, Emily and Shay, all college friends and roommates that you met in Charlotte; and Cristina your bestie whom you met in Rhode Island. Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times," and I know how much you love these girls and how much they love you. You have personal jokes and stories about each one. I love that they will represent all those different phases of your life. It was similar with me at our wedding with my cousins I grew up with, a childhood friend, penpal and precious sister as my bridesmaids.

You are not done making friends, that I guarantee. You have already added Lindy and Erica to your list of good buddies that you've met in Florida. And there will be many, many more to come, each that will play a part in your life. And more for Rob also. And adventure of new friendships awaits. And the best way to make friends is to be a friend. So I know you both will have them in abundance. This moment with your bridesmaids and groomsmen will be the starting point of a grand new adventure together in friend making. But the best part is, the ones you have, aren't going anywhere.

Discussion: Talk about the different people you've befriended throughout your lives and what they mean to you? What characteristics do you look for in your friends?

Prayer: Lord we thank you for the souls you've had us cross paths with on this journey of life. May we, Father, reach out in love to new friends around us and love them with the love you show us. In Jesus, Amen.