Unexpected Blessings

I didn't want to move to Goldsboro. I cried as we drove into town. Not small little tears trickling down my cheek...no, it was a full on sob, you know the ugly cry, snot and everything! I prayed, "Lord, let me find my purpose here." I believe in a God that leads us and challenges us. And this was a definite challenge for me. Or so I thought. Turns out, moving to Goldsboro was one of the biggest blessings of my life! It wasn't necessarily moving to Goldsboro that was the blessing...it was what I found there that changed me forever. Friendship. That word holds new meaning for me. The photos below are of women from all different backgrounds and walks of life. We are all in different phases of life. Some have adult children who are in college, others, homeschooling moms with young children at home. And then there is me with an infant. Yet we have so much in common. We all have experienced the uncertainty of not knowing where we will live two years from now...or even perhaps, two months. We have felt the sorrow of kissing our husbands good-bye as he climbs into a jet and flies off to war…and the sweet relief and sheer joy when he returns. We know how to pull together in the mean time by finding fun ways to distract each other and creative ways to care for each other. Military spouses become each other's family...not just friends. This isn't unique to Goldsboro. You will find this camaraderie in all branches of the military all over the globe. It is one of its greatest blessings.

But this group of women, this bond we share is different. Yes, the Air Force brought us together. Some of us have been friends for years moving from base to base all over the world together. And some of us have known the each other for just two years. The exception here lies in our shared desire to pull for a friend in need. Andrea, she’s the petite one pictured in the red bandana. She may look small but her spirit is colossal. She has breast cancer. And we, the rest of us would move heaven and earth to eradicate that burden from her. If only we had the strength or the ability. We don’t so we do what we know how to do and that is by finding fun ways to distract Andrea, and each other, from predator of cancer and creative ways to care for its prey. Like many groups of friends, we would meet on a regular basis to have coffee and chat. Unlike most groups of friends our meeting place would be every Thursday morning in the chemo room. If not for the busy nurses running around and the sound of the chemo dispensing machines, beeping, requiring the attention of those nurses, no one would know the difference. We would be in our own world; laughing, talking about our kids and husbands (all good, of course), solving the world’s problems. Well, if not the world’s problems then at least Goldsboro’s. Sometimes we would pray together and sometimes, if it happened to be someone’s birthday we would throw a party and suddenly, right in the middle of all that is serious one would find joy and celebration.

But before I start to sound too lofty I need to clarify that none of this was my doing. And my being there was not solely for the purpose of helping Andrea. I needed to feel like I was doing something about a situation I felt so powerless and helpless in. Somehow being there, sitting with her, distracting her became a blessing to me. I am still trying to figure it out. That is what is so beautiful about God’s grace. All of a sudden, once you have reached out to another you feel like all along it was that person reaching out to you. Andrea blessed us by being so open to receiving us. She blesses us daily with her wisdom and courage. She and her husband bless us and many others with their faith and their beautiful way of expressing and sharing that faith. And not only was I personally blessed by an amazing friendship with Andrea but all of a sudden there was a whole group of remarkable women around me who are themselves the very definition of grace.

Just as quickly as the military throws people together it tears them apart. We are all now in different locations throughout the country and some will find their way on opposite sides of the globe. We are together in spirit though and will be friends forever.

If someone would have told me that day I was driving into Goldsboro that I would be crying as I left, being too deep in my pool of self-pity, I wouldn't have even been able to laugh. But I did...I cried when I left and yes, it was the ugly cry, snot and everything. So I learned that sometimes God will ask you to do something. And maybe that which is being asked, that which you may not want to do, isn't some sort of punishment or challenge, rather it may be that God just wants you to receive an extraordinary gift.