Very Special Friend

Tiyeen (the nickname I gave her) was my best and close friend for several years. Although, she called me her mother of faith, I never felt like our relationship was that of a mentor-mentee. Realistically, the feeling was that of best-friends. We parted ways when she graduated from college and left our city for a job in Manila. But even when we were far from each other, we were still the best of friends. We communicated regularly and visited each other often.

She was one of the most helpful persons I've ever known. She had the ability to free herself from her obligations at work to help people in need. I cannot imagine how much she helped me every time I prepared for a trip overseas once I became a career missionary. She was there every time I called her for help. The same amount of support she gave to my little sister and friends. She became the person to call in times of need.

I loved and still love her a lot like I have loved my own sister. She has such a fun personality. We just clicked together... we laugh at the same kind of joke. We both love to sing and dance... and we know what each of us is good at. We even decided that she was a singing dancer and I was the dancing singer. If you know who is good at what! We both enjoyed verbalizing our day-dreams. We talked about our dreams for the future. And guess what? Our dreams came true.

Seven years ago, our friendship started to drift away. Some little misunderstandings and lack of regular communication parted us farther as the years went by. Each of our lives was tested heavily. We both faced big hurdles in life. Separately, we dealt with our challenges by God's help. We both longed for each other's friendship support but we were not there. We prayed for each other, that's for sure. And we thought of each other always when we heard the word "best-friends".

Seven years had passed and I felt that it was time to look for her. When we visited the Philippines recently, I asked our friends about her. One of them gave me her contact info but I unfortunately misplaced the card that had her info... Oh, such a bummer! Arriving home, I googled her name and confirmed that she's in the Middle East. I searched for her in Facebook... lo and behold, she is there!!! I sent her a message straight away. The next day, she replied with all of her contact info. I then gave her a call and we had the first talk on the phone after many years. She told me that she had also been longing to communicate with me for a couple years but couldn't find my contact info. Oh, it was a happy day!

Now, we are the best of friends again! I can't wait for her to visit me and my family here in Minnesota. I just can't wait. We will for sure have all-night chitchats and a combo of laughter and crying. Oh and yes, she is a laughing cry-er and I am a crying laugh-er! LOL!

God is a God is of healing and restoration. He healed and restored our friendship. I can't thank God enough for this blessing!