And a Friend's a Friend, Forever...

Telling a story about how three women came to be friends is intimate, and almost too personal to write for a public eye.  Partly because the story would have three different versions if told from one individual perspective, and partly because such a close bond has been formed that I will inevitably be unable to properly tell our story with the depth that it deserves. 

Tabitha and I on the weekend of my kids Baptism

But when the hand of God has literally reached into my life more profoundly than I had ever believed possible, I must respond with encouragement to others that holy friendships should be sought after, desired for, and ultimately received, from the King of Kings, himself. 

Looking back the beginning of His plan began with a meeting with Fr. John Riccardo.  I documented that meeting in detail, here. When I returned home to our local parish, I was energized due to the answered prayer, but still longing for close friends who would understand my desire to become Catholic, preferably from similar Evangelical backgrounds, and boldly began praying for like minded friends. 

Silence seemed to be God's way of allowing me to become completely trusting in him alone.  I waited, some days impatiently, most days on my knees in begging prayers, finding solace in his Scriptural promises.

Psalm 27:3 "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living.  Wait for the Lord.  Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord."

Sirach 6:14 -16

"Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one has found a treasure.  Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth.  Faithful friends are life saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them."

The day I heard a radio sermon preached on the above verse, by Fr. Riccardo, no less, was a day I felt duped in the Catholic friend search.  I was weary, lonely, and saw no hope on the horizon for ever uniting so deeply with someone with whom I could share my new found faith and my Evangelical upbringing.  Yet that verse grabbed me and caught my attention as a promise through my stereo speakers.  Something big was coming, if only I could wait for the Lord to work out everything for good. 

Meeting Lindsay in person for the first time

I continued to document the ups and downs of wading into Catholicism.  Always assuming I was writing solely for self therapy, always gaining peace when my biggest frustrations had to be flushed through a keyboard first before gaining an irrational force of their own. I didn't believe anyone but my husband was reading it; I wrote for my own memories, never thinking others may be interested in what a quirky convert had to say. 

Truth is, that statement is correct.  But people do tend to care about what a fabulous priest has to say, and sometimes in the wonderful world of Google, measly blog posts about such a priest bring up quirky converts experiences with said brilliant priest. 

And this is how our friendship came to be.  Three converts, separate States, facing different circumstances yet united by a desire to follow our Lord back into his Catholic Church, converged into one another by the sheer gift of God, and similar appreciation for a well preached homily.  Added icing to our friendship cake was the realization that our friendly priest knew us all by name, and was in the process of putting us into contact with one another.  Yet even before he had moved, Christ had moved.  Before numbers were passed along and text messages exchanged, God had been redeeming the Internet and search engines to form a holy friendship that would blossom beyond words.

Because God even looks out for the husbands

To some, it sounds simply as, "I met my friends online."  To me, however, experiencing what has taken place in the last few months rings more as, "The Lord has answered my prayer and sent me beloved friends through miraculous measures in order to more fully serve Him and his Kingdom." 

Morning Mass with a friend is a little piece of early Heaven

We do not know what it will look like, or where the Lord will use us in his grand Kingdom plan, (not to mention when all three of us will meet in the same state!)... but we are confident that whatever it becomes, or however he calls us, we will do it with one another's prayers, support, and love.  The gift of a friend in any time is a treasure.  Jesus has brought many lovely friendships into my life when I most needed them.  The gift of these two women has been the evidence of his Grace abundantly flowing into my life, his words of wisdom spoken through their hearts, and his voice of encouragement that no journey in following him is accomplished alone. 



"For where two or three have gathered together in my Name, I am there in their midst."

Matthew 18:20