Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday to you!

Today,

I am thankful for new relationships

and God's perfect timing.

This summer has proven to be one of the hardest

and most amazing periods of time in my life.

Which means God is clearly at work.

One of the biggest ways I've seen His handiwork

is through the people He has brought into my life,

the paths He has been allowing to cross.

And I am so thankful that He has brought this phenomenal woman

into my life.

I look at my friendship with Michelle

and all I see is God's perfect timing.

It is so neat to look at how we have grown to be friends

and How God has been at work in it all long before we ever had any idea.

So this is how it goes.

I met Michelle through my friend Christina from Utah.

{they were roommates during college}

The first time I got to spend significant amount of time with Michelle 

was in March of 2009 when I traveled to Utah to visit Christina.

We three had a blast together!

We painfully sat through the first Twilight movie,

Michelle introduced me to the wonderful world of Pride and Prejudice,

and we spent the whole trip quoting lines from She's the Man.

It was awesome.

Now fast forward to November 2011.

I had graduated college,

just moved down to Irvine

and my roommates and I decided to throw a housewarming party.

I knew Michelle had moved back to Orange County after finishing school 

and I thought this could be a fun opportunity to try and connect again.

So I decided what the heck,

 I'll invite her and her fiance Jake to the party.

They were so sweet and both came by.

But I'm going to be honest,

I was extremely nervous when they showed up.

It would be the first time we would hang out without Christina

our one, unifying connection.

 I also had never met Jake before.

This could have been a disaster.

However it wasn't 

and I'm so thankful they came.

I got to listen as they shared their engagement story, 

we got to talk weddings and just catch up on life.

I loved it.

We then decided we had to hang out

now that we lived only 15 minutes from each other.

But life happened

and the next time our paths would cross would be that coming summer in Utah

when we would both be bridesmaids in Christina's wedding.

If you recall my earlier post about {Christina's Wedding}

God used that time in Utah to work in my life in big ways,

and Michelle was definitely one of those ways.

{photo cred}

I'm not exactly sure how or when it happened,

but our friendship literally just fell into place.

Though we only live a few miles from each other,

It took us both traveling {separately}

from California to Utah to be bridesmaids in our mutual friends wedding

to realize that we needed to be friends.

Go figure.

The day after we flew home from Utah,

Michelle, Jake and I found ourselves having lunch together in Old town Orange

and the rest is pretty much history.

We spent the next month leading up to their wedding

hanging out {pretty much} non stop.

I loved getting to know her, Jake, and her family more.

Her family is so sweet and welcomed me with open arms

each time I was over at their house.

{which was all the time}

Shout out to the Priest family, 

you guys are awesome!

Michelle has been an absolute gift, 

given to me at a time when I needed it most.

This summer season has been difficult, 

with so much uncertainty,

a lot of change, transition, feelings and emotions.

Michelle has been steadily walking alongside me through it all,

challenging me to grow and speaking truth into my life. 

God has used her to push me,

to encourage me to take steps of faith,

to be bold, to trust God

and she has challenged me to pursue my passions.

{plants}

A couple nights before her wedding

we stayed up till 4am chatting.

All about God's timing, life, marriage, love, boys 

and marveling over the phenomenal ways God impacts and changes lives. 

I hadn't had girl time like that in a long time

and it was just what I needed.

I am so thankful that God has brought this amazing friend into my life.

Someone who I have come to cherish, treasure and adore.

Someone who points me to Christ.

Someone who is teaching me to live passionately, 

to use the gifts and talents the Lord has given me.

Someone who has shown me the value in pursuing

 a Godly relationship and marriage. 

I am so thankful that I look at my friendship with Michelle

and I see Gods hands all over it.

He is undeniably the one orchestrating it all.

{clearly by his timing}

I'm really excited to see how the Lord will continue to use our friendship

to impact my life.

I must also say that I am super excited for the new Mr. and Mrs.

and can't wait to see all that the Lord 

has in store for their marriage.

Congrats Jake and Michelle!

Michelle you have and continue to be a blessing in my life.

I am so thankful that in God's timing we have become great friends.

I absolutely adore you, your zest for life, your passion and your heart for the Lord.

You are a treasure.

What are you thankful for today?...