A Much-Needed Phone Call

In the midst of the waiting, Jason went home for a bit to get his glasses and let the dog out, so I checked my messages and found one from Jen - my college roommate, fellow dreamer, and one of my best friends.

All she really said was that she was wondering when I would be going to the hospital and that she loved me. But I could tell she was crying.

Just Monday, she and I spent a significant amount of time on the phone because she learned that one of her good (Christian) friends is getting divorced. And it tore her up. Even though we haven't lived in the same state in over ten years, we've had many of those types of conversations. When one of us hurts, the other truly hurts with her.

I cried with her when her sister-in-law miscarried several years ago. She cried with me when I miscarried the last time. We've mourned over everything from the divorces of family members and friends, to hurricanes, to deaths, to her husband's overseas deployments, to the fact that laundry is just never done.

And I knew that if I called her back, she would meet me right in the middle of my grief and stay there with me for as long as I wanted.

It was exactly what I needed.

I don't even really remember what we talked about during our thirty minute conversation that night. I just remember that we cried a lot, and we even laughed a lot and I hung up thinking that God is so good.

When we first met fifteen years ago, Jen and I both wrote each other off with quick, inaccurate judgments. She was a self-absorbed diva who loved the spotlight. I was a nerdy, judgmental snob who was too good for fun. But God shoved us together in extra curricular activities, classes, study groups and everything else and in a matter of days it seems, all of our stereotypes were washed away and the beginning of a life long friendship began.

Or, more accurately, I should say that we realized there was an element of truth to our first impressions after all, but loved each other anyway!

And I knew right then that it was for moments like these, when I was flat on my back in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, about to face life and death both at the same time, that God put our friendship in motion all those years ago.

I had great friends, a great family, a wonderful husband, and a God who loves me enough to comfort me personally.

Whatever the next few hours held, I knew I could get through them.