I'll never forget the day. It was just after lunch and we were heading into the auditorium at SpringHill Camps to start another week of summer camp. My phone rang and I vaguely remember the voice on the other end tell me that my dear friend Sara had died. I dropped to the ground and started sobbing. So many thoughts were running through my head and I didn't want to believe that it was true.
I am not really sure when or how Sara and I became friends. To the best of my knowledge it would have been our senior year of high school during tennis season. What I do remember though is the quality of friend that Sara was. My life was really messy but Sara didn't seem to notice (or if she did, she never commented). She loved me and accepted me as I was and was always ready to drive around town and listen to music, talk about boy drama, shop, eat, and just hang out. She was the first person that came and visited me when I moved to New York and the only person that made an effort to hang out with me every time I came home to visit. When she couldn't come to my wedding she sent a huge box of meaningful gifts and remembered to call the day of. This short list doesn't do justice to describe who Sara was but they are the things that stick out in my mind.
When Sara's life turned messy, I was determined to be the type of friend she was to me. I didn't agree with her choices, I was worried for her, and I knew that she was headed down the wrong path but I chose to take the stance that she did for me, and loved her despite it all. I didn't talk to Sara much (I think that she was afraid that I would judge her choices) but I called and left her a message almost everyday letting her know that I was thinking of her, that I loved her, and when she was ready to talk I would be there for her. I kept in contact with her mom and believed and prayed that her life would turn around eventually. Unfortunately, her life was cut short.
This is where God began to reveal Himself to me in a way that I will never forget. I was sitting in the gazebo staring off into the distance and praying for God to give me some kind of peace in the situation. I looked down and the necklace that I was wearing really spoke to me. It was blue leather and had a bunch of anchors knotted on to it. I felt prompted to explore the word anchor and found this verse in the Bible, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both steadfast and sure and one which enters in within the veil." Hebrews 6:19
At this point and time I realized that Jesus (the hope that I had) was the anchor of my soul. I will expand more in the next post.
I want to leave you with this thought for the evening--> Love those around you and love them well because you never know when they will be gone. Life is short so live each day to the fullest and strive each day to know and love God better.
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