My Friend Emily

My friend, Emily, is moving to Shreveport in two weeks for her husband's job. This weekend, our group got together at my house to celebrate her birthday and upcoming move. It was a pretty emotional weekend, made worse by the fact that Sara decided a great birthday gift would be a scrapbook full of prayers from each of us and pictures to document our friendship. Honestly, though, Sara's present was the most thoughtful, wonderful thing she could've given Emily. I thought it was such a neat idea that I decided to post my prayer (and the pictures I picked) as a little shout out to my friend, Emkat :-). Love ya, Em! I'll miss you next year.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine… When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” – Isaiah 43:1-5

Father God,
I want to praise you for the beautiful friendship you have given me with Emily. Before I went to college, I prayed about the people you would put in my path, and I asked you to prepare a place for me. I went out of my comfort zone in faith that you would provide for me – and, as usual, you surpassed all my expectations.

I remember meeting Emily and clicking with her instantly. I did not know that girls like her existed – girls that loved you with all their heart and tried to live for you. You put her in my life when I didn’t even know I needed her and made beautiful plans for our future.

Jesus, you have blessed me beyond compare through my friendship with her. I love looking back on the years we have spent together and thinking of all our walks and hour long conversations where we tried to wrap our minds around your character and your word. She pushes me to know you more, and she challenges me to live my faith. I hope our friendship and our conversations make you smile, as a parent would smile down on small children exploring their world.

Father, I have to admit that I am so scared to see her go. I can’t imagine doing life without her living close by. I know without a doubt that you have prepared a place for her in Shreveport. I felt such amazing peace when she told me where she was going and later when I discussed her move with her mom. You have told me that my prayers for her and Ryan have been answered and that you know the plans you have for them. Knowing this still does not make it easy to say goodbye, and my heart aches to see our friendship change. I know the move is not easy for her, either, Lord, so I lift her up to you.

Lord, you know how much I love Emily, but you love her so much more. You want the very best for her and for Ryan, and you can see the bigger picture. I know that you are good and perfect and that your perfect love drives out all fear, so I pray that you would drive the fear out of her heart. Create in her a heart that is open to the plan you have for her in Shreveport. Help her come to love her life there and build a home in that city with Ryan. Give her a heart for the people she meets and direct her paths so that she can join you in the work you are doing in that place. Please give her friends that love you and are able to support her walk with you. Give her someone she can talk to and hang out with when Ryan is working late. Give her someone who can mentor her and give her advice in her decisions – as a wife, teacher, and possibly mother. Bless Ryan. Make him happy and give him fulfillment. Remind him that he is where you have called him to be, and help him be the husband Emily needs even as he is busy with work. Use both of them to serve your people in need, and help them see the world and each other with your eyes.

Lastly, Jesus, I pray that when things are not going her way – when she is waiting to see your hand at work or when she is just discouraged – in those times, Lord, I pray that Emily would know that I am here and that I love her. Remind her that, though I am far away, I am in her corner cheering for her and praying that she will have the strength to trust in you and your goodness. Please let our friendship grow stronger over our time apart. Keep us close as only you can do, and bless our relationship so that it will continue to make you smile.

I love you, Jesus. – S.

What Do You Like To Do?

My friend Emily bought her husband The Art of Mingling for his birthday last year, and before she gave it to him, I got a kick out of flipping through this little book. It only took two pages for me to realize that apparently I mingle all wrong. The first two tips were: 1) Don’t ask people what they do for a living (they may not have a job, and you risk offending them) and 2) Give a closed mouth smile (no smile suggests you are unfriendly, and a big, toothy grin says you are weird and overeager). Because I love meeting new people, I usually give a great big smile, and my fall back, ice breaker question is ALWAYS, “So, what do you do?” As I said, I stink at mingling.

However, I have found that people I meet are not always the best at mingling either. One question I absolutely HATE is “What do you like to do?” I feel like people ask this either because it is their fall back question (like my “What do you do for a living?”) or because they think I’m incredibly boring, and they are trying to figure out if there is anything remotely interesting about me. Maybe I’m just insecure. But seriously, how do you answer that question? I feel like I need to come up with a super intriguing hobby, so when someone springs this mingling tactic on me, I’ll be ready with a quick, “Well, I’m so glad you asked. I just love to sky dive, go belly dancing, run through sprinklers in other people’s yards, and oh yeah, I also like to rescue lost puppies.”

Instead, I usually stammer and stutter before coming up with something evasive like, “Oh, I enjoy doing lots of things. What do you like to do?” This morning, while I was walking, I tried to brainstorm possible answers to this question, so I could be prepared for my next mingling experience. Do you know I couldn’t come up with anything?? At least not a hard, fast, interesting answer to this question.

I do like a lot of things. In fact, I like my life, and I enjoy most everything I do – with the possible exception of cleaning my toilet. Seriously, though, when I began to think of all the things I like to do, the list was quite long. I like to sit on my porch in the evening with a tall glass of tea and a good book; I like to dance when no one is watching; I like to go to the beach in the summer. I like to call my dad early on Fridays and banter with him; I like the thirty minute phone conversations I have with my mom about nothing; I like having dinner with my brothers. I like going to Thursday night Bible Study; I like talking to Jesus from 6:00-6:30 every morning; I like teaching (most days!). I like taking naps, making hot chocolate, movie nights, date nights, bubble baths, singing in my car, eating pizza, going to the lake, and visiting friends. I like my life. I know these are not answers one expects when they ask me, “What do you like to do?” but they are my reality, and even though I don’t have any super interesting hobbies, I’m thankful for all the moments that make life special.