Old Friends, New Friends

So, last summer I came home from school and walked into the grocery store with my mom. She and I were shopping and talking and I ran into an old friend from school/most of my past. He made sure he had my number in his phone and called me. We went out to coffee and took a walk around this great park that I live very near to. We sipped our coffee (which he paid for) and talked about life and how elusive love was.  This coffee date was very early in my not-yet-relationship with my ex and I'm afraid I was a little distant and not really all that much fun to talk to. 

He said that we should do it again sometime...provided that he didn't mind. 

I haven't seen him since.

I'm back at my old church now, the one that we both went to. I'm seeing some old friends from the school we both went to. It's strange and I haven't thought about this person in the longest time, but I'm finding myself wondering what  he's doing. I'd love to have a chance to do a repeat of last summer (and not just because I am not solvent enough to afford coffee out). I'd like to catch up and see what the year has brought. 

On another note, I've started my quest for small groups. One such inquiry got me a lunch date (sushi) (and pardon me, I use the term "date" loosely, mostly because of Christian school) with a young man who leads one such group which is not really a group. 

Let me explain.

I called about his "coed college group" and found that it was really more of a ministry. However, in a fit of community, this guy asked if I didn't just want to get to know someone in the church, maybe have coffee or lunch or breakfast. We settled on lunch. 

I showed up at a sushi place downtown that I hadn't tried and was a little nervous to go in. I repeated the writer's mantra (at least my writer's mantra) to myself: "Even if this is a terrible experience, you can write about it later." So helpful.

I walked in and spent a lovely hour and a half getting to know this guy, my new friend Josh. He was sitting at a very small table as I came in and a plant was reclining on him. It seemed to move as he tried to get away from it. In spite of this, we talked about our lives and about the church and a little about our families and how we grew up. It was cool. 

Before we parted ways (with a handshake) he told me that if I needed someone to sit with on Sundays that I could just give him a call. He said he didn't like sitting all alone and he doubted if I did either. 

All the sudden, as I watched him walk away, I didn't feel quite so alone. Maybe it's the fact that I really was dreading sitting alone this coming Sunday and that God seemed to know that I needed that.

Do you ever get those moments where you know that what you just experienced was a little present from God just for you? 

Little and simple and just what I needed. 

So, even though I have friends seemingly scattered all around the world and I miss the ones not close at hand, it's sure good to watch God doing things right here in my backyard. 

I'm going to keep looking, I want to be aware of it.