reconciliation

This past week I had the wonderful pleasure of a phone encounter with an estranged friend.

Some events had transpired months ago and I was afraid our friendship had dissolved. There was no explanation and I felt hurt and confused by my dear friend.

But then she reached out. And it got me thinking about God’s beautiful heart for reconciliation, and the power of two torn-apart souls rejoining and rejoicing together.

It made my heart so happy to know how much she cared. To hear the truth and to know that the guilt had weighed so heavy on her all this time- that’s how much she cared about me and our friendship. And to hear her relief when I told her I had already forgiven her long ago.

I think about many different ways that conversation could have gone. And I think about how bitterness can take root if we are not careful, and allow us to further divide rather than come together. If I had reached out to her sooner perhaps there would not have been so much hurt. Perhaps we let broken relationships carry on for much too long when a simple word of forgiveness can change everything.

I thank God for the wonderful friends He has given me in my life, and for the endurance of the friendships that are meant to last. I know that no matter what happens or how far apart physically or emotionally we may feel, I will always have these people in my life. The people that stick by me and keep coming back.

I know it is a gift that not everyone has. I know some relationships never mend. But sometimes the pain is what it takes to test the strength of the relationship. And we come out stronger on the other side. And the healing is deeper and we are closer than we were before.