Last Thursday night, we had the annual Festival at church and I took Smoltzie and went down to hang out, eat a little something, and see friends. The best part of the night was that I ran into my college friend, Judy. Judy and I sat beside each other in our first college class at USCS and were friends from that day on. We were both Elementary Education majors and had most of our classes together. We went to lunch together most days, including every Friday at the buffet at Quincy's, where we had the same waitress every week. (Now USCS is USC Upstate and Quincy's is The Junction. Time certainly changes everything.)
After we graduated, Judy and I were in each other's weddings. (Hers took, mine didn't.) I'm so terrible at keeping in touch with old friends. I literally had not seen Judy since her wedding a few months after college graduation. It was so great to see her again, and I got her phone number. I promised myself I'm going to get better at keeping in touch with people, so I'm hoping we can go to lunch together or something one day and catch up.
A lot has happened in my life since the last time I saw her. I've been through a divorce, gotten a second college degree, hopped to different jobs until I started working at the TV station six years ago. I've lived in five different cities in two states. I asked her if she was still teaching and she's at the same school she started working in when we graduated and is still living in the same town. She's still married and has three children now. I guess I see in her what I thought my life would be like right now. Sometimes when I do touch base with people I went to college or high school with who have the marriage, family and sometimes career, too, I take a moment for self-reflection and, too often, see my own deficiencies.
In a fit of self-pity one day, I once told someone that if I die, I leave nothing behind. There's no legacy of children or some great earth-changing work that I've done. I think the hardest thing for me when I turned 30 awhile back was just knowing that there was so much I wanted to accomplish by then that I hadn't.
Don't worry. My blog isn't all gloom and despair. Because I know there's a reason for everything that has happened in my life and for the place that God has brought me to at this point in time. If I'd had the life I thought I would, I probably wouldn't be as thankful for His blessings. I know I'm a lot stronger and wiser now than I was as a fresh-faced recent college graduate. Perhaps a little more cynical, too, but still a dreamer. And I know God has great things for me to do. There's a pretty good chance that the marriage, the children and the stability is still out there for me to find. And because of what I've been through to get it, I'll be much more grateful for it, I'll be better able to handle the rigors and trials that go along with it, and I'll know that it all happened in God's perfect timing.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11a)
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5 comments:
Great post!
Eddie-- You are creating a larger legacy than you could ever realize, this side of heaven! Because you live your life "unto the Lord"-- nothing may SEEM earth-shattering, but I KNOW it's "heaven- impacting"! Your music and teaching ministries alone are changing lives for eternity-- I know you know this-- I just wanted to encourage you to keep your eyes on what is unseen-- the eternal stuff. Love ya! :)
PS-- sorry I can't spell your name right today. :) OOOPPS. :)
Edie you are a survivor and I admire you greatly. You have made it through your storms and you are a greater and stronger person for them. You are so giving to your church and to life in general. You have left footprints that you may never realized you left and they will leave a mark long after your gone. You may not know God's plan for your life, but one things for sure, it will be for your good and His glory. Luv ya, sis!
Thanks for all your comments! (Jennifer, that's okay - I'm used to it!)
Love y'all!
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