Unlikely friends

A year ago, if you had told me that Christi and I would be good friends, I probably would have chuckled. Not in a mean way, just a "huh, that would be weird" sort of manner.

But I think God knew that we would need each other.

A little background, Christi and I had been going to the same church for about 5ish years. We had been in the same small group for a while, I don't really even know, maybe 2 years. We were the 2 women in the group not married. We were the only 2 women working full time jobs. But we never really connected. I couldn't tell you why. We never hung out outside of church or the small group. We never arranged to meet up for lunch.

I couldn't tell you where Christi lived.
I couldn't tell you what her favorite foods were.
I couldn't even tell you if she liked chick flicks or not.
I couldn't even tell you when her birthday is without looking at facebook.

Pretty much all I could tell you about Christi was that we prayed a lot about her teeth, her brother and his wife had a daughter and live far away, and that she is an elementary school music teacher. The end.

And then I left that church.

And then I left that small group.

And I didn't spend a moment wondering what Christi was up to.

And then she sent me a message.
The message really. The very awkward message that said "Hey, I just broke up with my boyfriend, I'm sure you've heard. And I feel like a bad friend because I haven't talked to you since you left. But could you meet me to talk? If you think I'm a jerk and never want to talk to me again, that's fine too."

I was caught a little of guard, but I responded. I told her that I didn't think she was a jerk, I didn't know she had broken up with her boyfriend, and that sure we could meet for dinner, but it had to be short, I had to pack and leave for a trip, you know that whole work thing.

I was nervous, what did she want to talk to me about? Would we even have anything to talk about? I mean our lives were so different you know...
We go to different churches
We have different friends
She has dated 2 different guys in the last 5 years, I have dated no one
She is a music teacher and oboe player
I am an athletic trainer, and I like to run, and I like sports in general

Would we sit there in silence and stare at each other?

I didn't want to gossip, I didn't want to rant. I prayed "God, um, yeah, please give me wisdom, and please help me to say and not say the things that need to be said and not said." Beyond that I didn't know what else to pray. "oh and that God would comfort Christi through this breakup."

So we met for dinner, and she shared with me that she was going through some of the same awful things I had been through.

I think I told her something profound like "yeah I know, it sucks" If I remember correctly, we both shed a few tears.
And we stayed until we were pretty much kicked out of the restaurant because they were trying to close. Who needs clothing and a toothbrush on a road trip anyway right?

I invited Christi to come to my new church, and my new Sunday school class the following Sunday, I wanted her to know that I wasn't encouraging her to make the same choices as I was, but that sometimes perspective is good, and her ex boyfriend was scheduled to preach at her church, so you know, might be a good idea to take a week off.

A few days later I picked her up, at her house, yes I had to use my GPS to get there. Irony, I thought, considering that we'd been in the same small group for a long time.
We left church feeling like the sermon had been directly for us.

We started randomly texting each other things like "hey what are you doing tonight, want to watch chick flicks?"
Or "hey I know you were suppose to have a long day at work, how did it go."

And then one night we met up for dinner after work, and she told me the whole story of her adoption.
And all of a sudden I realized, "hey Christi and I are...friends"

And then my birthday came and we went out to lunch.

And then her birthday came and she invited me to a dinner party thrown in her honor by one of her former coworkers. It was a blast, and I laughed so hard I cried, for over an hour. I also learned that she loves pineapples.

I feel that I would be leaving something out of this story if I left out the part about the fact that it has been awesome to have someone to encourage me in my faith, some one I can send random quotes or Bible verses that I have read that encouraged me, to a person lives in my same small town, and understands my life.
It's awesome to have a friend to get together with who wants to talk about a really good sermon they heard, or how important it is for us as the body of Christ to actually pray for each other.

And when I think about the fact that Christi and I are friends, I think about the fact that God knows what we need, and always delivers, not necessarily in the way we expected.