(reposted after an accidental deletion...)

my blog and online identity may be "a wandering heart", but that is not completely reflective of i am. oh, yes, i have a tendency to be scatter-brained, disorganized, even "blonde" at times, in spite of my hair-color. fear and anxiety are more often than i like the thorn in my flesh. i have to surrender those things daily. as i approach the beginning of the 3rd decade of my life later this week, i am thankful for my steadfast friends. i hold my friends dear to my heart, even when time passes and our lives drift apart.these include my dear hubby, of course. 2 days from now will be the 8th anniversary of our first meeting. he met 2 of our mutual friends after they left our university to move to memphis. my apartment-mates and i decided to go visit those friends before the semester really got going.... we met them and a group of some of their memphian friends at what happens to be one of my favorite chain restaurants because i LOVE seafood... the funny thing is, i didn't eat much that night. and i really only got to know one of their friends that night, despite the fact that the dinner group included at least 10 people.7 years and 363 days later, the man i began falling in love with at first meeting and i are a family (with one baby). way back then, our relationship grew quickly and we adopted a motto "we either trust or we don't". this referred to trusting our Lord to answer all our questions in His time and give us guidance, but quickly expanded to trusting one another as our relationship deepened. God gave me a man whose steadfast heart has repeatedly overwhelmed and calmed me.yesterday, 3 of those friends who witnessed our meeting and instant connection came to our house for a baby shower (along with other dear friends, of course). all 4 of us "girls" celebrate the same milestone birthday this year, i can't help but to think back on how our friendships have evolved. two of us graduated from high school together, all 4 of us lived in the same dorm our freshman year. we sojourned together as we journeyed from adolescence to adulthood. these are among my closest girl friends. we know the struggles and joys our friendship has brought us.
God has taught me about bearing eachothers burdens and loving unconditionally through these ladies. i will never, ever forget the expression on my apartment-mates' faces that special night as we left memphis. they are the friends who i didn't have to tell that something was "different" .. they knew. oh, they didn't know how different that night, but they knew me and they knew that i didn't normally open up as easily as i had with that guy. they had no idea he would propose just 3 months later, but they knew something was different...

we are friends whose paths intersected by God's grace, and while our lives have taken different turns, we try to reunite to celebrate important milestones. we have been through enough together and apart from eachother to know that no matter what happens, we are not "going anywhere". i hope that no matter where we may wander, our friendship remains steadfast.