I’ve been blessed in my life with many wonderful friends, who over the years have loved and supported me in countless ways. One of these friends is Carol. I first met Carol when she started working at Munsingwear with me many years ago. We don’t see each other often now because we live on opposite sides of the city, but our friendship is precious and important to us.
Our friendship began the first day we met. We just clicked, and Carol was always there for me, and I for her. One instance of this occurred when my two oldest boys were young. They were sick one day, running temps and really needed to see a doctor. We lived in Coon Rapids, but because we had an HMO for our health insurance, we had to take them to a clinic at Fairview/St. Mary’s in South Minneapolis, which was quite far from Coon Rapids. You see, I had never learned to drive. I was always afraid to try. Having moved to Minneapolis from a tiny town with one main street, all the cars and freeways terrified me. On this particular day, my husband was at work, so I had to take the boys to their doctor appointment on the city bus. Midway through the long bus ride, one of my boys got sick. It was a horrible experience for him, as well as the other bus riders, I’m sure. A couple days later, the boys were feeling much better and I went back to work. I was telling my friend Carol about our awful experience on the city bus on our way to the doctor’s office. Her immediate reaction was “we have to get you driving”. The next day she came to work with a Driver’s Manual for me and told me to study it for a week and she would take me during our lunch time to take the written exam. A week or two later, as promised, she drove me to the nearest DMV to take my test, which I passed. On the way back she said “tomorrow we’re going to start practicing driving at lunch time”. I was quite nervous about getting behind the wheel, but she had gotten me this far, so there was no turning back. What she didn’t tell me, was that she had bought a brand-new car the night before and expected me to drive it. Now I was super nervous, but with Carol’s support, trust and patience, I got through the first driving lesson with no problem. We continued to go out a couple of times a week until we decided I was ready to take the road test. I called to make my appointment for my road test in Anoka but was told that the wait time for an appointment was six weeks. I was ready to take the driving test now but would have to wait. That same day, I was talking with my longtime neighbor and friend, Nancy, and filling her in on my progress of learning to drive. I mentioned the wait time to take the road test was six weeks. She said that her son had an appointment to take his test in Anoka, but he had already passed it at another location, and perhaps they would allow me to take his appointment that same week. Nancy immediately got on the phone to try to make that happen. She was told that they don’t typically let someone else take a scheduled appointment, but as she began to explain my situation, for some reason the person on the phone was filled with grace and allowed me to take that appointment. The big day had now arrived. I got behind the wheel, buckled my seat belt and started the car. At that very moment it began to rain, and just my luck, the sunroof of the car was open. The guy who was conducting my driving test was so kind. He could tell how nervous I was and said, “I’ll close that for you”. I pulled out on to the Anoka street and almost immediately, the windshield of the car started to fog up. To be honest, I didn’t have a clue how to even turn on the defrost, and again, the instructor took mercy on me and said, “I’ll turn the defrost on for you”. The rest of the test went well, and suddenly, at the age of 31, I was a licensed drive. I was so excited and proud of this milestone and accomplishment in my life, and the freedom that it gave me. If not for my dear friends, Carol and Nancy, as well as the grace and mercy of the driving instructor, I’m not sure I would have ever learned to drive.
I truly believe that God is constantly working in our lives. He knows what we need and He places people in our paths to love, help and guide us.
Thank you God, for the gift of friendships that you have given me over the years, and for the presence of friends in my life. Thank you for the ways they have walked with me during troubling times, and for the ways I have been able to walk with them in their time of need. Thank you for the love and laughter we share, for the comfort, strength, forgiveness and joy of these friendships. Please watch over them always.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help
