Likeminded

I’ve settled in enough to miss old friends. Some slipped into my past, but others remain close no matter where in the world I pause.

I met one of my favorite people the first week in the new apartment building in my new village of Fox Lake. She stood there in the hallway as though she’d been waiting for me. Moments after basic introductions, Therese blurted, “We should start a Bible Study in the building!”

 

We hadn’t mentioned church or matters of faith, yet she reaffirmed the old saying like attracts like. From that happy meeting we got together several times a week. Each time we excitedly share something new. We talked to God alone about the Bible Study.

Terry is a master quilter, something I’d always wanted to try. We’d get together a few times a week to enjoy one another’s company and explore new patchwork designs. Each visit Sean, Terry’s lively, WWII veteran and professional vocalist husband annoyed her entertained us with jokes (usually bad) or song (always wonderful). We quickly learned to have the computer or the TV on in the other room.

Every week we excitedly shared stories about what God was doing in the building and our community. We understood the Bible Study would happen in God’s time. We stayed busy.

Two years later I took my latest quilt project to Terry’s apartment. My mind was in a patchwork maze and my caffeine levels were dangerously low. But when she opened the door we both blurted together, out of nowhere, “Do you have any ideas about the Bible Study?” Her eyes widened, and she said, “I found this book that would be great to start with.”

Over the next couple of days she put together a syllabus, printed flyers and I passed them around the building. We started with eight women, each from different faith backgrounds and experiences; a genuine melting pot. Within weeks the group grew so we had to move to a larger room.

I moved out of the building a year later. Just before I left Terry finished chemo therapy for breast cancer – after fifteen years of remission God and she beat it again.

It’s a safe bet we keep in touch. As busy as she stays, when my brother passed away, Terry was my go-to girl, my touchstone. We hadn’t talked in three months, but you’d never know I ever left the building. Good friends are like that.

 

 

 

Three years later, Terry reports the Bad Girls of the Bible* Group is still as diverse as ever and going strong.

 

 

“…If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:19,20 (NLT)

 

*Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs image courtesy Google.Books.Com

Images courtesy of Therese and Sean are not to be duplicated or otherwise shared without prior written permission. Thank you!