Wondrous Surprise

People come and go out of our lives all the time. Sometimes we notice, sometimes we don't. I saw a friend tonight who I hadn't seen in 10, maybe even 20 years. What an incredible feeling of AHA to walk into a building and see someone who was one of your best friends many moons ago!

He and I grew up together. Our families have been going to church together since we were very little. I don't remember when I met him, but I don't ever remember going to church as a kid without him. We spent years side by side in youth group. We dated for a week when we were 12. He was probably my first love. In high school, we had different circles of friends, but we stayed close. Upon our high school graduation, we moved in different directions. I honestly cannot say the last time that I remember seeing him. I've thought about him often over the years. My mom keeps me posted as to where he is and how he's doing. On the rare occasion I went back to my parents' church, I would ask his mom and sister how he's doing, and ask them to tell him that I have been thinking about him and that I say hello.

I was visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, and we had all planned on going into church for the annual Christmas tree decorating. It used to be called "Hanging of the Greens" which was always very amusing, because there was a family who attended church regularly, named the Greens. It was always great fun to say we were going to go to church to hang them! (Jokingly, of course!) Not too long before we were suppose to leave, my youngest fell asleep. I wasn't about to tempt my luck by waking him up and risk having him be cranky all evening. I'd much rather let the boy sleep, especially after we just got done warding off the dreaded Stomach Bug. So everyone else left to go to church, and the boy and I stayed behind.

He slept for an hour or so, then woke up on his own, still a little cranky but manageable. I fed him some Cheerios (I think that's all he ate all day long was Cheerios) and we were just bumming around when my cell phone rang. It was my mom calling, and she said, "I just wanted to let you know that Lynn is here." Before she even finished her sentence, I dropped whatever it was I was doing and ran to grab my shoes. I threw shoes and jackets on both of us, ran to the car and strapped him in his carseat as fast as I could. After closing the garage door, I cut across my parents' lawn to get back to the car. I was running, it was dark, and being the creature of grace that I am, I ran smack into a tree branch. It scratched the top of my eyelid, but I didn't care. I had to get to church! When you've been waiting years for an opportunity to present itself, you don't let a scratched eyelid stop you!

As my son and I walked up to the front door of the church, a flood of memories came back to me. I could remember "listening" to sermons, sitting in the back pews with my friends. I could remember sleep overs the youth group had and when we got in trouble for running through the church. I remember searching for hidden passageways in all the back hallways. I remember cooking breakfasts in the kitchen of the church on Father's Day. I remember using the hymns to practice singing harmonies, and trying to sight read from the hymnals. Then I opened the door and walked in. There he was. He was just coming down the stairs toward the front door, and he said, "And look at this lady!" I had the biggest smile on my face and I hugged him tight. It took a lot of restraint not to scream like ... well, like a 12 year old school girl!

I can't even explain the feeling of joy that swept over me. To be given a second chance at a friendship that had disappeared so many years ago is total and complete AHA at it's finest. He introduced me to his family and I introduced him to mine. I gave him my phone number and email and he promised to email me the next day. It was a brief encounter, but somehow so satisfying to see and talk with him again. He said he was really glad my mom called me, and I couldn't wipe the goofy smile off my face for anything! It was absolutely wonderful to have that friendship suddenly brought back to life, almost like it had never disappeared. I missed this friend terribly when he left my life, and I'm so incredibly happy to have him back.  Never give up on a good friendship.  You never know when you may be surprised by getting it back!