Fellowship and Friends

     What a beautiful, God-given day! The temperature is just right, the yellowing leaves on the trees of the lawn here at UVA are falling, and there is so much life here on grounds.  And I am praising God that I am here to enjoy it!  Overall, I am doing REALLY REALLY well here! 

     That being said, I have had a really hard time sleeping lately, having a lot on my mind - but I fell asleep relatively early last night! And woke up BEFORE my alarm - how often does THAT happen in college??? So I woke up, instantly put on my praise and worship music, and allowed the beautiful melodies of Hillsong fill my soul with joy. Today is a good day! I got dressed, and prepared to meet some of my beautiful friends for church.  While I was waiting, I sat down and opened my Bible.  (Now, a story about my Bible.  I grew up Catholic, so naturally, my Bible is Catholic still. As some of you may know, the Catholic Bible has extra books that Protestants don't have.  Sirach is one of those books.)  The first passage my Bible opened to was this:

          A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:

               he that has found one has found a treasure.

          There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, 

               and no scales can measure his excellence.

          A faithful friend is an elixir of life; 

               and those who fear the Lord will find him.

          Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, 

               for as he is, so is his neighbor also.

                                                   (Sirach 6: 14-17)

     And how true this is!  I'd read the passage before, but never really felt like it applied to my friendships growing up.  I always tried to make it fit, but something was always off.  But not anymore.  And why is it? Because my friends believe what I believe - for once!  They are really helping me to grow! And I don't know how I would navigate these new waters of His overwhelming grace and love without them! 

     I feel like I can trust them absolutely.  They know the darkest secrets of my heart, and they are helping me to understand and to see God's plan in all the heartbreak and brokenness that my life was up until now.  

     And after church, we went to breakfast together.  And we "partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people." (Acts 2:46) And I got to experience REAL fellowship! And it was amazing.  It is like every little meeting I have, every meal is drawing me closer to His Love.  

     I am truly experience unity here! Unity with my friends, unity of life, and it is truly a humbling experience!