The Great Rembleski

So, today my old college suitemate, Erin, came over for a visit. This was significant because we: a. haven't seen each other or spoken to each other since freshman year, and, b. she lives in Oregon. I was a little apprehensive...I HATE smalltalk, and I was a little afraid that all we'd have to talk about was smalltalk. So, I was nervous when I went to answer the door. She swept in, and we exchanged the usual pleasantries in the usual ways. I introduced her to the kids, who were SO excited to have the tedium of daily life mitigated by a total stranger, and then we sat at the kitchen table for what was to become a 3-hour conversation. She told me about the last 11 years of her life, and I filled her in on mine. What different paths we have had! The funny thing, though, is that though we've taken different paths, we've walked the same road. She married a great, godly man named Adam. They were, at one point, on a church-planting team, but since felt called to do other things. (Incidentally, we are very close to the parents of one of the other couples on the team.) They moved to Oregon, on faith, with only a small job possibility on the horizon. Well, that job worked out, and they are working hard in a church that needed, well, fresh fire. Erin has always been a spark...I know she and Adam will be amazing with that congregation. I say we've walked the same road because for both of us, it's been a sojourn of self-discovery. We both have learned a lot about what it means to be a dynamic christian. What it means to really love the people around you. The pain that happens when you fall short in those areas. We've both missed people we love and have made many strong relationships along the way. Erin (whose last name used to be Rembleski) and I weren't especially close in college. I thought she was way too cool to want to be good friends! She thought I was dating a freak (she was right), and didn't feel much in common with me, probably. It was such a blessing to sit with her and really form, I think, the beginning of our friendship. We had a common history, but now we have a common bond. Thick water, anyone? I'm grateful for my old (and new) friend Erin, and the journey that God has sent us both on. God is good.