I made a new friend last week.  We were standing next to each other in a looooong line at the post office here in Las Vegas, and I listened to her try to help a young man behind her navigate his paperwork.  She noticed me (eavesdropping) and sweetly said, “I sure hope I told him right.  I’m not even sure I’m doing mine right.” She was trying to decide if she should attach a mailing label to her package or not.  I told her that whatever she did was just fine, and if the postal worker didn’t approve, she should tell him that I told her it was fine.  It was a goofy thing to say, but we both laughed. And in the next few minutes, we laughed a lot.  My kind of gal.

It turns out that Ty lives near me.  We exchanged phone numbers, agreed that God works in the craziest of ways, and today had lunch together.  I had hoped to share Jesus with her, but I didn’t have to.  As we hugged in front of the restaurant before going inside, she handed me a gift: a Christian book she had written.  Before we even ordered, I asked Ty to tell me about her life. She shared how God had taken her from homelessness at the age of 14 by directing her steps and giving her entrepreneurial skills.

While we were eating, Ty received a text from her mother, the same mother who had abandoned her and left her (Ty) to raise her two-year-old brother. “To my beautiful, intelligent, wonderful daughter” it began.  Ty had forgiven her mother and bought her a car and a home about an hour away.  “That’s what God calls us to do,” she said matter-of-factly.

We talked about how God had orchestrated our meeting in that looooong line in the post office.  Ty said that she now spends most of her time writing software codes for doctors and accountants and isn’t really into developing relationships with people, so it was strange that we talked and laughed the way we did. I assured her that I had no idea how she did what she did because my brain does not work like that.  I’m just into people. I love making friends.

This past week, my husband sent me an email he had received that dealt with finding good friends.  Some of it, I liked.  Some, not.  Take this one, for instance: “If you want to reach the top, surround yourself with the right people.  We have heard your network is your Net Worth.  It is so, so true!  Be with those who will help you climb higher.”  I get what the writer intends, but money never should be a qualification for a friendship.

The writer went on to list other kinds of friends we need: a Covenant Friend who loves no matter what; a Confidant Friend who never is jealous of other’s success; a Hospitable Friend who keeps people grounded; and a Spiritual Friend (“one that will pray for you without you asking, the one that you go to for advice, you go to when you need a reality check”).

Christmas is the perfect time to remember family and friends.  Jesus was all about relationships and instructed his disciples to spend their lives discipling others.  I cannot imagine how empty my life would be without my friends, but I wonder how many times I’ve been too self-absorbed to reach out like I did with Ty.  What opportunities did God lay at my feet, but I just ignored them?  I’m afraid it’s not their loss, but mine.