I left on Tuesday morning and headed to another Columbus, this one in Indiana, and had lunch with an old friend from summer staff in '03, Brett. It was really fun to catch up, and to be reintroduced to him in a new way, away from the intensity of summer staff and the distance in face book messages. Meeting up with someone I hadn't seen in three years helped affirm what the Lord continues to do in my life, and the great circles that we are all apart of. I left lunch thankful that we were able to take the time out of busy schedules to sit for an hour or two and just talk about where we've been, seen, and what is next on the agenda.
I then went from that very special and random in the most sincere way experience to my other favorite Lexington: the other being in Kentucky. Having spent quite a bit of time there visiting friends the past four years, and just using it as a stopping point in some really fun road trips- I felt comforted by being there. To add to the familiarity I met up with Tex at the Target (folks, I did not go inside Target, I thought you'd be proud of my restraint). While I waited I listened to my play list that I am absolutely obsessed with, and tried to jot down some thoughts in my journal. He drove up smiling and laughing and we sat side by side in our vehicles for a moment, and I just had to scratch my head b/c there we were in Lexington, KY both calling Lexington, VA our home- it was just kind of bizarre. To add to the comedy of life we combined forces and he got in my car and we drove to the other side of town to meet Julie Berg now Michels at Panera. Tex and Julie led YL together while they were in college at UK, and I knew Julie from summer staff (The same one as Brett and I met). Last summer Jules got married- and so Matt and I drove out to KY to attend the nuptuals. While seated at the reception I was formally introduced to Tex in a brand new way "lets listen to Tex talk for 2+ hours and ask a billion questions about Property Staff". I walked away from that wedding with many impressions, and nestled in there was "tex talked to me forever about himself", I remarked this in later months to Julie who would just laugh, and to Tex this summer when he was an intern. Since then things have changed while remaining very true to the initial encounter. He is now on Property Staff at Rockbridge, and now I can honestly say that our friendship is much more balanced then just him talking or asking me for advice.
Sitting in Panera, I was again reminded the circles we run in, how we will ease in and out of each others lives- and thanks to Jesus working in Young Life, we build these very serious and encouraging relationships with people that continue beyond what I had originally thought would happen. When Julie and I were on SS I thought she was fun, outgoing, and that if we lived near eachother we'd be great friends. However, due to the nature of job assignments and the greater responsiblities of SS, we didn't become close friends at all. But in the months following as I built my life in Lexington, VA keeping in touch was natural, and then Matt and I went to visit her the following spring. Since then- there have been drive through visits, dinners, laughs, phone calls, and text messages asking about prayer concerns. When Matt and I were at her wedding last summer, we both felt so warm in being part of such a ceremony with someone neither of us had any reason to know to the extent we did. We didn't grow up with each other, go to school together, live in the same town- but because of the Lord we were able to connect in light of those things and celebrate. So, long story short I love Julie Michels.
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