One Thing That Makes All the Difference Wherever You Are

I carefully led my toddler boys to an empty square of grass on the patchwork of moms and tiny children, content to sit for as long as my boys would let me. The local Easter egg hunt had been a raving success, so James and Ethan were anxious to explore every bit of their booty. The air wasn’t too chilly, but I wrapped my jacket around me tighter anyway. We had recently moved, and I still felt uncomfortably out of place in our new town.

That’s when I noticed her, the petite blonde holding a cute, wavy-haired little boy who was happily pulling stickers out of eggs and putting them on his shirt and jeans.

I don’t remember exactly how we struck up a conversation, but Rebecca and I chatted comfortably from the get-go. We shared common ground as military wives new in town, and things just flowed easily from there. Before I packed up my tired kids and their Easter loot, she kindly invited our family over for dinner.

We were friends for a few months when God gave a cherry-on-top blessing by making us neighbors for almost three years before my family moved again.

Years later, both our families once again live in the same neighborhood. Her family moved here a year before mine, and for the first time we experienced what it was like to live in a new place with old friends.

People, it made all the difference.

I’m still surprised how God used that spring day and an open patch of grass to stage the beginning a favorite relationship. He arranges our futures in the most unsuspecting ways, doesn’t He? Every move we make and direction we follow has a purpose. Even if you are new in town, you are not out-of-place but comfortably and completely in His place.

Sometimes, just knowing this makes all the difference.

If you are sharing your own surprise or unexpected memory of spring, here are some things to remember:

1. New to link-up’s or have questions? Read this first.

2. Since we all dig surprises, please surprise another writer by leaving a comment on her post *or* by giving her a facebook shout-out or tweet. Use the hashtag: #outoftheblue. 

3. Be sure to include the out of the blue banner {see below} in your post or link back to Chasing Blue Skies so your readers can join in the fun. That way, we can all easily find each other. 

Next week’s prompt: How did God use a Scripture verse or passage to speak to you in a surprising or unexpected way?

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Also, the winner of Alexandra Kuykendall’s book The Artist’s Daughter was Melissa! Congrats Melissa, and you should have already received an email from me!

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