A Life in Exile

I spent over twenty years away from my hometown and then moved back. I don’t know about where you call home, but my town is a place people like to stay. Like me, other childhood friends have moved back after years in different states and cities. While my town has changed a lot, becoming more like a city now, there are still many great things about living here.

I don’t often see the friends I grew up with in church or school, but I’ve had moments lately for some short, serendipitous visits that warmed my heart. They reminded me of two comforting truths, the first of which is this:

True friends love and remember

I was visiting a friend who now has her mother living with her. Her dear mother had just returned home from having knee replacement surgery, and I went over at her request, because she wanted a copy of my latest book to give to a friend. While I was catching up with the two women, a cousin walked into the room. I was introduced, but then the older woman began to tell her, “You just don’t know who Carol is. Let me tell you.”

I turned to her daughter with a questioning look as her mother, now in her eighties, began to give my life history to this woman. She told her where I had lived and about my late husband, remembering things I had forgotten! I asked her how she even remembered all that, and she told me, “Because I’ve been praying for you since I knew you.”

I was blown away.

What does it say about this woman’s prayer life that she has loved me enough to remember the details of my life and lift them before the Lord? I’ve written about my prayer warriors in the past, but here was one who had also been fighting for me in prayer, without me even realizing it. What a sweet, sweet blessing to know that I am not forgotten by others.

Her example convicted me to better remember my friends in prayer.

We have an eternity to catch up

That same week, another friend came by, also seeking a copy of my book for a friend. We’ve known each other since our days in the church nursery, but I don’t see her very often, except for maybe at funerals. I welcomed her in, and she immediately sat on the couch and started talking. She has boys—I have boys, so we caught up on those dearest to us, including grandchildren.

We talked about church and grief and other deep subjects in that God-ordained visit. There is something about old friends, especially those who have a common trust in the Lord—you just pick up where you left off. Whether we’re catching up on the years or months, it’s always a joy to see how God has been working in the life of a friend.

These are sweet reunions—a taste of heaven.

I reflected on both of those visits, which are like a refreshing breeze on a hot and weary day. I realized that I will have an eternity to enjoy such reunions with friends, meeting with them after years and decades apart, and being witness to all God has done in and through their lives.

Thank God for the glimpses of heaven

Now, when I visit with a fellow believer, whether I saw them last week or ten years ago, I will always pause to give God a prayer of thanksgiving, as He’s allowing me to see His work in the lives of fellow pilgrims of the faith. It’s a grace from above and an encounter that increases my joy in Christ.

Have you caught up with an old friend of the faith lately? Wasn’t it sweet? Give thanks—you just had a taste of eternity.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Wednesday Wisdom, click HERE, or check out these posts on friends and prayer warriors: Finding Friends in Service, Faithful Saints, What Defines a Life?, and Thankful for Role Models.