Nebraska... but, more importantly, Jill

My trip to Nebraska happened in early June, and it was a great trip. The flying was relatively anxiety-free, and the time with my friend Jill was really encouraging. We don't get to see each other often, but our friendship is a wonderful blessing.

I met Jill in January of 2001 during our junior year of college at Ashland University. I'd been having some disenfranchisement with my friend group at the time, and I was hungering for friends that shared and lived out the faith. I had good friends with whom I share a lot of fun memories, but they were not living for Christ at the time, and that led to a sense of spiritual isolation.

After experiencing this lack of spiritual connection for two years at AU, I finally made my way to Lower Chapel on campus for a meeting of FCA - Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I guess my wiring as a black-and-white person emerged here; I had never attended a meeting before the spring of my junior year because I assumed this organization was for Christian athletes. Not being one, I didn't think it I'd be allowed to participate. I trust God's timing in leading me to FCA, but I do wish it could have been sooner because I quickly learned that FCA was just the name. Our campus evangelical association was really The Navigators, and people were most welcoming! My first visit came at the invitation of a girl in my Bible study (thank God that the Navs had Bible studies in our dorms, or else I might have gone 4 whole years without knowing there were other dedicated believers on campus). That's the night I met Jill.

What was meant to be a quick exchange of small talk turned into a 3 hour conversation, ended only when Campus Security came through Lower Chapel to let us know they had to lock up for the night! We quickly skirted past the light-hearted "getting to know you" stuff and moved almost directly into deep things. Jill told me later that she had been praying for a like-minded friend for a while before we met. How blessed am I that the Lord answered her prayer with me! That conversation set the tone for our friendship: depth and fellowship and a desire to love and speak Truth to a like-hearted woman.

Since that time, only 18 months of my life have been spent with us living within 30 minutes of each other; the rest has unfolded while living 4 hours to 12 hours apart! She discipled me the summer before our senior year while she lived and worked in Ashland. Jill played a crucial role in helping to deepen my faith, leading me to the church were I would be a member for 7 years, connecting me with many dear friends (including my good friend and former pastor Ben and his wife, Mary), and becoming a treasured friend that I'll have for life if I have anything to say about it. :)

After graduation, Jill spent two years doing college ministry with the Navs' EDGE Corps program, which took her to Nebraska. There, she met Rob and started a family. That didn't deter our friendship, though; when she and Rob got engaged, she asked me to be her maid of honor (which was really an honor for ME), and I traveled to Nebraska to help with dress shopping and then for the wedding in January of 2005. Since college, we maintain our friendship via (mostly) weekly phone dates and emails, so we're thankful for technology! Our phone dates are really important to both of us. Despite her having two children under four and me working full-time, we manage to find time most Monday afternoons to talk for 60-90 minutes. We get to see each other once a year at Thanksgiving, when she travels with her family to northeast Ohio to visit her parents. It was a blessing (for me, at least) when her father had a change in jobs that led them to Medina since that allows us to see each other more often than we would have had her family stayed in Indiana.

Having not been to her house for 6 years, it was good to see what they've done with it during my trip, and it was even better to get so much time face-to-face. It was also my chance to see Lydia again, who is her youngest and my goddaughter. We cooked dinners, traveled to the library, went to the park (where I met someone whose sister graduated from Cedarville - small world!), and even got a girls-night out, thanks to Rob watching the kids on the Saturday night I was there.

Jill is a woman of great wisdom. I often make the mistake of putting her on a pedestal, but she is always faithful to remind me humbly that Jesus is better suited for that seat. I'm not sure I can capture our friendship in words, even knowing my penchant for having a lot to say. I'll just say the words that come to mind when I think of her:

* LOYAL - to me and basically everyone I'm aware of that she has ever been friends with

* well-spoken

* excellent listener

* Truth-speaking

* grace-giving

* admits her sin

* unafraid of conflict

* reconciliation-oriented

* patient

* persevering (in every way I can think of)

* honest

* trustworthy

* dependable

* pursuing (of me, of Jesus, of the hearts of those she loves or who she sees hurting)

* genuinely interested in "drawing out the deep waters" of her friends' hearts

* a true and lasting friend

Now that you know a bit more about her, take a peak at some of the highlights from my trip:

RG and I played "Walmart" one day, where he acted as my personal shopper while I asked to purchase certain things, like canoes, refrigerators, stuffed puppies, fireman hats, bicycles, and vacuums. You can see that his store did not have all of my purchases in stock. :)

Lydia is such a loving little girl. She repeatedly walked up to me and gave me "hugs" like this one. Both of these pictures show hugs I got in rapid succession of each other. Love it!

On my last night there, we finally got around to asking Rob, Jill's husband, to take some pictures of us. Rob REALLY likes his garden, so here I am, acting like Vanna White as I pose in front of it... and apparently cracking Jill up. Love that Rob managed to capture the knee slap on camera! :)

We decided to be Price is Right models together after that.

RG, Lydia, and I on the morning I returned to Ohio.

Lydia and I on our own.

So, there you have it! My trip to Nebraska and, more importantly, a chance to get to know my dear friend Jill!