the smallest Small: A Stabilizer in the Storm

This summer I was asking a friend how he felt about some pretty major changes going on in his life, and he said that so many things had changed in the past couple of years that it didn't really matter any more.

I know exactly what he's talking about. When life gets interrupted and changed again and again in a short amount of time, you kind of start thinking "plot twist!" and just keep riding with the tide. Those crazy changes start becoming a very real part of life, and you learn to cope. That doesn't necessarily mean that change becomes easy; you just learn to handle it differently. I can shrug it off and rest in the fact that God DOES know about the future, even when I have no clue. I know that whatever changes are ahead--however major or minor--will lead to new opportunities that couldn't have been there otherwise.

But no matter how accustomed I may get to change, sometimes I really need something (or someone) in life that is consistent and constant. I need something that I can depend on to not change and grow distant so that my life still holds some familiarity because too many changes can often be scary. Yes, I get scared with change, even though I know that God is perfectly in control. I get nervous that I will lose everything as I knew it before.

Particularly in this college-age time of life, a lot of my relationships are shifting. Friends are at college, getting married, and preparing for careers. New doors are opening up for everyone as we each start exploring more long-term goals for life. The people are changing, too. God is impressing different lessons on each of us as we take on different commitments and careers. These are all wonderful things, but they are also difficult things because friendships often begin to grow distanced in more ways than just miles.

But God has graciously placed in my life a few friends who don't let changes of responsibility and opportunity wedge between us. They are exactly what I need for some stability in these years of goodbyes, moving, and taking on of new roles.

One of these God-given friends was placed in my life 14 years ago--way before I knew I really needed her for anything more than a simple pen-pal. Hannah became one of my "favorite hellos and hardest goodbyes" when we first spent time together 2 years ago. Now she is so much of the dependable stability that I need in a life raging with changes and unkowns. She knows about the ups and downs of my life, and that doesn't push her away. We live in different states, but that doesn't force our friendship apart. God is placing different goals and talents on our lives, but that doesn't prevent us from understanding each other. I am seriously so blessed.

With college, work, and general life getting in the way, the past year of our friendship had been limited to calls, texts, and letters. LOTS of each. I was extra thrilled that Hannah's favorite birthday present (well, my favorite, anyway 😉) was a flight down to Washington for us to be together again. 10 days gave us the chance to celebrate Sukkot together (for the 2nd time), start brainstorming a novel, play in the middle of the road, and catch up on a few things in person. I didn't even know just how much I needed this until we were reunited.

So...it doesn't matter if you do or don't know what's going on in your friend's life; it doesn't matter if the events, talents, and goals of your lives are totally different; it doesn't even matter if you are states apart! You can still be the one thing that is always present and supportive with deepening friendship. If not for yourself, than do it for your friend. You--just you being you--might be exactly what they need.