Letters from Friends

I opened my email and glanced at the sender.  A friend I hadn't heard from in over a year.  I smiled, clicked open and sat back to enjoy a wander down memory lane.  Reconnecting with my old friend warmed my heart.  Later in the day I received another note from a long lost friend.  A few more the next day and by the end of three days I had received notes from around 10 different friends that I haven't done the best job keeping in contact with.  A note came from every different period in my life - high school, college, Grand Rapids, Detroit, New Zealand.  The beautiful thing about these notes that they weren't one-liners asking how I was with no communication on their part.  Rather they were long letters filling me in on the details of their lives, letting me know how they were doing.  Between the lines they were saying "we can pick-up right where we left off."
Sitting back in my chair with my chin on my knees I thought about this a bit.  I hadn't been feeling particularly forgotten but I had been going through a bit of "America home-sickness".  It felt really good to slowly read each letter.  To hit reply and fill in a year or two of missing pieces.  It made me feel connected with who I was and helping to tie the "old me" and the "new me" together into one continuous person.
Psalms 139 flitted through my head:

"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain."

God knew what I needed without me even blurting out in a mess of emotions.  He "hemmed me in" before I even knew I had a need.  And He gave my friends the idea to send me a letter.  Through these letters I was given a small glimpse of the relationships I have been privileged to share on this earth.  They gave me the encouragement to continue investing in lives, because we all touch people even if we think it is only a small touch, it can have great encouragement.