Random Thankful Thoughts...

Have you ever stopped to think about where God has you in your life? Where He's taken you? Have you ever thought about the purposeful orchestration of the people you've met along the way, the fact that they are, without a doubt, people who God allowed you the blessing of knowing? Well, I have, as you who know me, get on these random thought kicks, and I have had this thought recurring and I wanted to write about it.
I have had the privilege of being a serious Christ follower since I was about 13ish, and the journey that God has taken me on and led me through has been ANYTHING but the boring path I would have laid out for myself! The best part about my journey is that throughout it, God has allowed me the ultimate privilege of getting to meet and walk with some of His most amazing creations, my friends.
There are snapshots of my life that stand out to me and in those flashes in time, God provided for me friends (which seems like such a weak word for how I regard these people) to experience life with. God orchestrated in my life, very early on when my family was shaky, a small group of girl friends that are some of my best friends today. God brought us together to experience the breathless and the breathtaking together because we surely experienced that between us all! I am so incredibly thankful for these girls that I call my sisters (which still to me doesn't seem strong enough) because they saw me, see me, and will see me through the rest of my time on this Earth and I know that God ordained them to be my life partners. God did that!
Then I jump to the time that God pressed on my heart to serve Him at a youth camp for the summer with my best best friend. We both had just graduated high school, were so amped and ready to serve God, so scared for the future after the summer, but fully confident that God had it covered. And that He did! That was the summer that God ordained 3 more special people in my life (other than my best friend) who would change me forever! That summer defined God's skillful way of that"just right" kind of timing. I am fortunate enough to still have a pretty close relationship with most of those friends, but even so, God used those people to make an impression on me, to help me grow as a woman of Christ and to learn to love. Crazy enough, that summer was the year I met Marcus and wow, did God change my life with him! :) (Of course in all the best ways, right?! :) ) I didn't know that one of the reasons God had pressed me to volunteer for this camp was because He had done the same pressing on the heart of the man that I had prayed for for a very long time. A year after camp, 3 years after that and 3 years of marriage have made me so so thankful that I obeyed God's call. God did that!
Then I rewind and slightly fast forward to the year after that first summer camp, where I felt called to serve on a different youth ministry camp. That summer was incredibly fun, crazy, and sweet! God brought me there alone, vulnerable and waiting on Him to move me, and God moved me through the group of friend, who became my family, I shared that summer with. Although time and distance hinders communication sometimes, this family God allowed me to make has left such impressions on my heart, I love them more now, even though we don;t get to talk as much, than I did that summer! God did that!
Then I fast forward a few years to the present. God moved Marcus and I to a church where He had a small group waiting for us. At the time of us moving to that church, our hearts, spirit, everything was hurting and we needed mending. God provided for us a small group who truly IS our family to live life together. Marcus and I have grown so much in our walk with Christ with this group that we ever have before and I can't imagine not knowing these people. We have laughed, cried, vented, questioned, discussed, lived the past year's life together. God allowed us the privilege of being apart of an intimate fellowship of believers and for that I am so amazed! God did that!
I know that God has had His hands on me and my life path for way longer than I realized and to know that God cares enough to provide for me these friendships that have left my heart and soul so much sweeter is such an amazing, humbling reminder. So, when you are thinking, doubting, praying, being reminded that God's got it covered, trust me, (and I am preaching to the choir here! ), God's HAD it covered! God did it and does it!