roommates and roadmaps

I had lunch with my college roommate yesterday. We had a blast! We have talked on and off over the last few years but we haven't actually seen each other for an intentional amount of time in probably 20 years. We put the date on the calendar. We made a plan and we followed through. Finally!

She looks the same as she did in college. A little older and wiser but still the same beautiful skin and dark hair. We didn't miss a beat. We started talking and had to make ourselves stop so that we could get on with our busy lives. We did the speed catch up on our girls and our husbands and even a little about ourselves. The conversation naturally led to how God had changed us over the years and the things He has taught us and those around us. It was wonderful and filled up a part of me I didn't know was empty.

Micah and I knew each other in kindergarten. She lived in McDonough and our parents knew each other well. She moved away and we saw each other again for the first time on move in day at college. We became friends immediately and became roommates after 1st quarter. We lived together all four years... in a dorm room! There were no apartments back then and we weren't allowed to live off campus so we lived side by side in a tiny dorm room for all four years including a summer session. We were in the same sorority, had the same friends, were in each others' weddings and sent Christmas cards every year.

Life happened and we didn't have time to get together or even to catch up. There was never time. It happens to the best of us doesn't it? Those friends that were such an important part of your life and then they just kind of fade away into memory. Facebook made it easier to reconnect. Gotta love it! We could "see" each other and our families. I felt like I knew what was going on in her life. I could see the outside but I had no idea what was in her heart.

When my dad died, we had the visitation and funeral all in one day at the same place. We were surrounded by family and friends, both old and new. All of my friends came that had walked through the 13 years with me. I needed them there and they gave me peace and confidence that all would be all right. But it was when I looked up and saw a familiar face walking towards me that the empty part of me that needed filling up a little more became filled to overflowing. Micah's dad had read the obituary in the paper and called her. She got in the car and drove to the funeral home. She gave me a hug and said all the right things. We cried. But none of that stuff filled that emptiness; the pure fact that she showed up was all I needed. We are a part of each other's past. We shared a very significant part of our lives together. Whether we talk or see each other, we are connected.

God gives each of us a roadmap of our lives. He knows where it starts and He knows where it will end. The path is marked out even though we tend to take a lot of detours along the way. There are people that come and go in those detours. Some we have known forever. Some we meet along the way.  Some stay. Some go away forever. Some get mad at us and some just love us in spite of ourselves. But God puts all of them there for a reason. They dot the roadmap of our lives. Going back and looking at that map sometimes helps us see clearly where we are going or where we need to go.

I encourage you to pick a dot on your roadmap. Reach out and reconnect. It does your heart good. Write a letter, make a lunch date or just send a Facebook message! You may have a place that you didn't know was empty or you may fill that empty place for someone else. Either way, God will use it. I promise!