God's sovreingty is so evident in the way that he can allow such beauty to come from the very worst we experience in this lifetime. when i look back on the last year or so of my life, i cannot help but be completly amazed at the way that God has provided for me. one of the most important ways that he has done this is through relationships. it's evident to me that long before my mom was diagnosed with cancer, god was at work putting people in my pathway to help me through the storm that was to come. i have been priveledged to meet so many wonderful people since mom's illness and death, and all these relationships are the handywork of the creator. some of the most influencial people have been those with whom i share this common bond. one of my now closest friends is someone i've known less than a year! we met in august, after my college minister shared with her the overwhelming number of girls in the college ministry who had parents with cancer. it all started with an email- just one, in which she so beautifully shared her story of losing her dad to cancer and explained the calling she felt to connect with others who had been touched so deeply by cancer. now, someone who was a stranger to me a year ago is one of my best friends, thanks to the love and mercy of a loving God who so diligently provides for His own. we've shared many, many lunch dates since then, lots of late night phone calls, tears, quite a few breakdowns, but also lots of joy and laughter. God also saw fit to provide for me another precious friend who lost her mom. we've been able to share the ups and downs of navigating through our family relationships with dads and a younger sibling, cry over the fears that we'll never be able to happily marry or have children without a mom's help, and countdown the hours until mother's day had come and gone.
i was reminded tonight of God's sovereignty when my freshman year roommate called needing a favor. a friend from high school just lost her mom. "kara, would you mind writing her a letter? i just don't know what to say." i'm a firm believer that to whom much is given, much is required. i know that God placed those two special girls in my life to be an example of how he would use me to minister to others. i've already been blessed with several opportunities, a sorority sister's mom's breast cancer diagnosis, a fellow student who lost her dad, a friend from middle school who lost her mom, and my own aunt's cancer diagnosis. the bond that we share is one we all wish we could avoid, however, it is a strong bond that words cannot describe. our God is a big, big, God, who is painting a masterpiece, our lives, as a huge mural. sometimes, our flesh limits our sight to the wallet sized here and now. sometimes is takes a phone call requesting a letter to bring the big picture, the complete and beautiful picture, back into focus.
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