Reunited...sort of.

This morning was one of the best mornings of my life. Why? Be patient and I'll tell you...

Today was the day Jessie and I spoke live for the first time since I last saw her in Michigan in August. We had been emailing each other very sporadically over the past few months...mostly me sending her spiritually encouraging things, such as sermons, scriptures, poems, etc. But today, we spoke (and saw each other) live on Skype. After overcoming some technical difficulties on my end, we got into it. It wasn't weird or awkward at all...almost as if we never had stopped talking in the first place.

I started out with telling her about what I had been doing over the past four months. I recapped my car accident adventures, my dealings with the MoCo singles and how I had developed dreams for myself. After that, Jessie let me in on how the past few months had been treating her. She told me about the ups and downs, the good times and sad times. Through it all, she had to be broken down to the point where God was all she had. And at times, he was. But once she got to that point, she was able to see more clearly the mistakes she had made in the past, the things in her past she needed to let go of and the things she needed to remember forever. She also got a lot more clarity on the things that ultimately do and don't matter in this life. I could tell she had changed a lot, and that she was in a much better place spiritually. I can't even begin to convey how happy this made me. My prayers (as well as the prayers of many others, no doubt) were answered!

Then we got to point of why she wanted us to talk. She opened herself to me in a way she never had before. I was so proud of her ability to be vulnerable, and I felt utterly loved by what she had to share about me. She then shared the really big news...she had been given the option of staying in Zurich for the rest of the school year (until June). She was hesitant, because she wanted to come back to the states. But then, God shone through: Jessie's boss offered to pay for all the debt owed on her father's property if she stayed for the duration of the school year. How could she say no? She DID struggle over it for a bit though...having someone pay off all the debt was a definite God-send, but it would mean her and I would be apart for another five months. She debated hard about whether to tell me. She sought lots of advice from many of the people closest to me, and they all told her the same thing: He'll understand, if he really loves you.

No way did I understand...how could she do this to me? (KIDDING!!!)

When she told me this, I was overjoyed for her. I know how much keeping the land means to her, and this really was a total God-send. I've waited this long...five more months, especially with such a sweet payout at the end, is more than worth it. She was very relieved to hear this from me. I also told her how much I loved her and how much I wanted to be with her. Would I love to see her more than a few times in five months? Of course. But like I said...this wait is more than worth it.

So where do we go from here? We decided that we would resume our friendship and go from there. God still may have something different in mind for both of us, and we didn't want to limit Him. I'm very confident in saying we both hope with all our hearts that His will is for us to live happily ever after, but over these few months, we've BOTH learned that God's way is much better than either of ours.

So I'm happy that I'll get to talk to my best friend on a regular basis again. And I no longer have to stalk her through our mutual friend's facebook pictures and anonymously following her blog.