that "hedge of protection"

The time: 4:55 p.m. on Sunday, June 10, 2012.
The setting: Emily and I are sitting in church waiting for a friend to meet us there. Church starts at five and we haven't heard anything. So, I text our friend Isaiah, asking him if we should keep a seat saved. The reply I got made my heart stop.

"We wrecked. On our way to the hospital."

Just the night before, I went riding with a couple friends and experienced the thrills of fast, powerful motorcycles. We had a blast. We laughed. We, err, I sang my heart out to the deaf ears of my helmet and the not quite deaf ears of my driver. I held on for dear life. I admired dusk in the countryside. I laughed at other drivers. But I did NOT think twice about whether or not I would make it back alive.

Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 5:15 p.m. Emily and I hopped in the car and blitzed it to the hospital. My craziest driving in... ever. We had texted them and asked if they needed anything. Naturally, the answer came back (sooner than I found out they were both okay) "food. we want food." Alright, then! We stopped at McDonald's and brought them lots of food... and no straws. :( The one time straws really matter! Emily and I sat and waited with Cory and Isaiah as they gritted their teeth through the blood and road rash. But at the end of the night, God had spared two lives that aren't finished. His plans are bigger.

Emily and I took Isaiah home, then stopped at Sonic for our own dinner since we were a little on the nervous side for round one of dinner. We were sitting there just soaking up everything that had happened that day while our arms did all the could to support the weight of our dinner. Then Emily asked me a question I wasn't expecting at all... "I bet you didn't think you'd get this attached to the people here, did you?" I just sat there and thought. I didn't. It was true. I moved here back in August just thinking it would be another "short" phase of my life and I'd move again a year or so later. Do I know when I'm moving out of KC? No. Do I know if I'll ever move away? No. But I can tell you for a fact... here and now, this is where I belong. And I LOVE it. I've made friends that I will keep for a lifetime. And if I move someday, I might just take some friends with me. ;)

God knew what He was doing when He led me here. But I finally learned a little more of why last weekend. Between my small group and other various friendships, I love people here. And they love me. I can't picture my life without a very large group of them... a group large enough and specific friends wonderful enough that I might just stick around for a while... :)

He rearranges our lives for the better. We have lessons to learn. We have new friends to make. We have hardships to go through. Sometimes it's a move. Sometimes it's an ended friendship. Sometimes it's an ended relationship. Sometimes it's a wreck. But the opportunities that come with those situations are priceless and perfect.

Emily summed it up well in what she wrote on our chalkboard last Monday morning. :)