more on my OldFriend and others

Well, the one person that I saw in my visit to Albany was my friend Jodi. She was a friend from school and church and we rode the same bus....It was wonderful to see her and catch up and EVERYTHING that had happened since we were 15 years old! She looks great and sounds like she always did. She caught me up on everyone that we could both remember from school and church....I couldn't believe how easy it really was to pick up a conversation that was left off when we were fifteen and before we'd lived so much of our life.....

Then, I emailed my other old friend, the screenwriter. I had a vague memory of his email address (mine had changed and I had lost my address book) ....I guessed right and he was surprised to hear, but we exchanged a few emails and I sent him some of the pictures I took. He caught me up on a few friends that we had both known. But, the coolest thing was that he gave me email addresses for a couple of our teachers (I find this amazing that he had kept up with these two teachers for over 25 years!) Anyway, I have heard back from one of them and hope to talk with her soon by phone.....
the strangest thing of all to learn is that her daughter attended the same college that I did (many years after me!) But, what is bizarre about it is that her daughter grew up in Georgia and this college is in Ohio! I don't think I ever knew anyone at OWU that was from the deep south!

So, why does this all seems so wonderful and amazing to me? I think that I finally figured some of it out....

We lived in Albany for only three years. My brother and sister are both younger than I and do not have many memories of it. They also did not have as positive of an experience living there as I did. For me it was wonderful; I found myself during those years. I was confirmed in the church and began to have a call to ministry. I began to believe in my own abilities and have faith that I could accomplish goals in my life.

There is no one in my life now who knows that part of my life---my parents both have died (over 10 years ago) and there has been no one else with whom I can speak about those days. Re-connecting with all these folks feels like pulling pieces of my life back together--tying it back up into a neat pattern.

When I was in seminary, the meaning of Psalm 139 really hit me. I was farther away from my "home" than I had ever been and on my own for the first time. I longed to have some one in my life who knew all of my life. However, it was then that I realized that only God knows us so intimately. There is no one else who walks with us from birth to death and knows every part of our life as her/his own. I am grateful for the abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, but I am also grateful that along my journey I have had companions to walk parts of the path with me. And I have been blessed to walk with them through the valleys in their lives and up to the top of the mountains.

Reconnecting with folks from one "era" in my life has re-affirmed the goodness of companionship and friendship as well as reassuring me that God has walked the entire path with me.