Further Up and Further In

When I stop and realize the ways in which God gently, (and sometimes not so gently!) works in the background of my life, all I can do is stop and try to pick up my jaw up off  the floor. So many times, without even noticing how he is doing it, he brings the people I need most into my life.

Ms. Nataleigh is one such example. This friendship of ours goes back to a snowy January we spent studying philosophy in Poland. Two completely different personalities, together we somehow work - our various strengths contributing to a friendship that has weathered graduating, finding jobs, experiencing heartbreaks, going back to school, rendezvousing in Europe, and then moving to the East Coast within several months of each other.

We added another chapter to the story this past weekend as we experienced a piece of life on the East Coast. We hiked the Catskills, soaked in the beauty of the slowly-wakening spring, battled New York's toll-ways and lost, realized that our pallets are not refined enough to enjoy duck, relished these words, and had the unwritten agreement that since neither of us are morning people, talking before 8:00 a.m. was definitely not a necessity.

Where would we be without strong, deep friendships? Friends that draw you further up and further in ...