I love the 2nd F in BFF...

My dear friend Sandie is like a soul sister to me. When we first met, I was immediately drawn to her and we quickly became friends. We each spent 3 1/2 years at Western Illinois University - the exact 3 1/2 years to be exact. We arrived together & left together. We were involved in the same campus ministry, were accountability partners, worked at the same summer camp for the exact same 2 summers, shared an apartment together, were in each others' weddings... and none of those things even begin to describe the depth or breadth of our friendship. I can honestly say that though I've had many friends in my life... very, very few are those whom I truly consider a "best" friend.


After college, Sandie & I parted ways. She went to Chicagoland to teach & get married - then on to northern Kentucky to be a pastor's wife. I got married & have moved all over (well, you know the rest)... We have not been fortunate enough to live near each other since the day we stopped being roommates. Our parents live 4 hours from each other, so we haven't been in the same town for holidays or anything like that. When we still lived in Illinois, another roomie of ours & her hubby, Tommie & myself (along with Franklin - age 2 - and Harrison - age 1) all went to visit Sandie & her hubby in Kentucky. She wasn't feeling well that weekend and as I suspected, she found out she was pregnant shortly after that weekend. That was over SEVEN years ago! We have not seen each other since!! We have had another child and she has had four little ones.

Last summer, when we moved to Indiana, I quickly realized that we were only about 2 hours from where Sandie lives. We finally were able to get together today. We met at Lincoln State Park - somewhat close to halfway between us. It was the best day!! It is difficult for me to find the words to describe how much today meant to me. We picked up our friendship right where we left off. It was almost as if a day has not passed since we've seen each other, yet we had many years of catching up to do. She is exactly the same in so many ways, yet we have both matured into motherhood and marriage and have grown in our love for & relationship with God.