Today she is one of my best friends. Her young son is now nine years old and nearly as tall as me. In that time, our relationship shifted from discipleship to two peas in one crazy little pod. We’ve both seen our fair share of the storms of life, and walked through them together. Encouraging each other. Praying for each other. And laughing until our stomachs hurt.
I was thinking back to those days this morning, so incredibly thankful for my time with Shawna then, and our friendship today. From all our years together, there are two things that I will never forget:
1. Life is vanity. We’re never satisfied in our current season. We will continually be looking for the next thing. If you’re single, you want to be married. If you’re married, you want a baby. If you have a baby, you wish they were walking and talking. When they grow, you can’t wait until they get out of the house. If you have curly hair, you wish it was straight. In the summer, you can’t wait for a cozy fireplace as the snow blows outside. And in the winter, you curse the cold weather. All is vanity. We need to be content in the season we’re in, enjoying every second of it and pulling out the little nuggets of truth we find along the way.
I filled a journal every three or four months with prayers, incredible truths that were marked by a little sketch of a light bulb when something hit me over the head, stories of His faithfulness, dreams and pictures… I was swimming in a deep ocean of His incredible Spirit that would be unique to those few years spent in Corvallis. Shawna encouraged me to dig those wells as deeply as possible so that as life went on, and I didn’t have as much time and freedom, I could return to those wells and pull from them and have my soul watered.
I can’t tell you how right she was. When I come up against some road block, the things that I’ve learned and have written over and over in my prayer journals plays like a recording in my brain. He is still faithful. His timing is still perfect. And His goodness is still unquestionable.
A few weeks ago, we drove to Corvallis to celebrate Shawna at a surprise engagement party. Scott, you don’t know how dang lucky you are.
Happy Friday, friends.
Congrats, Shawna and Scott!!
This post is so BEAUTIFUL in so many ways…… back in High School in OC Shawna was used by God in my own life too in a powerful way… Thank you Shawna and thank you Jane… I am so blessed by all of this- God is sovereign!
Aww… with tears in my eyes I cant thank you enough. Janey that was so thoughtful. I love every last ounce of you, my dear sweet friend. I am so grateful for our friendship and our amazing times together. You too Jen! Thank you for your kind words. God is so good to visit me through my friends in my toughest times. I love you both!
LOVE THIS! What great great advice. I will remember this for all the single ladies in my life…things definitely change once you get married!
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