Stepping Out and Going Forward

Yesterday I did something I knew that I would do eventually but I thought it would be a lot more planned out. But God had other plans and He knew that I needed to share my story about Heaven yesterday. And, in spite of doing it all very impromptu in my eyes, in God's eyes I believe that He had something very special planned.

Now, I'm not sure who all read my three posts yesterday but I do know of a handful of people who responded to me on Facebook. One of those people was a friend of mine from Michigan who I hadn't really talked to (except for occasion FB posts) since 2006. Her name is Sandra and we met at a very pivotal point in my life where I had just broken up with Dave (before we got married). I had moved to Michigan to work for a book publisher and try to get my life figured out as a single woman again. During my first visit to a church in Grand Rapids, I met her at the welcome/info table and we immediately became fast friends. We started a weekly Bible study at my apartment with another single girlfriend and shared our hopes, dreams, disappointments, and desires. But mostly we grew in our relationship with God. Sandra helped me keep my sanity when I went through the roller coaster ride of dating someone else only to get engaged to Dave about six weeks later (yep, it was a CRAZY time!)

So yesterday, Sandra came back into my life and I believe it was the strategic plan of God that prompted her to reach out to me after reading my blog posts. She had some critical decisions to make and God used me to speak out to her things she needed know as she went through this transition time. But I also believe God brought Sandra back into my life for me. He revealed to me something through her that I needed to accept about myself, celebrate that information (not hide from it which is what I've been doing), and move on in the great things that God has for me as well.

I won't go more into what happened yesterday with Sandra or me. Maybe God will release me to talk about it more in future posts. But I do need to say that I absolutely believe God has a good plan for our lives...and that plan involves people who come into and out of our lives for specific reasons and sometimes specific seasons. But for the record, I believe the season of Sandra not being a significant part of my life is over. I think He means to restore a friendship for the strengthening and edification of both of us for whatever future He has for us. And things like this blog, Facebook, and smart phones make our ability to do that much easier these days. Thank you God for using technology to see your purposes fulfilled. I can't wait to see what you have in store for both of us!