Nikki is in town!

My dear friend, Nikki, was in Dallas last week and we got to visit!  Her husband, Todd, is a youth minister at a church in Midland, so they spent the week with their youth group at a camp at Christ for the Nations.  We don't get to visit very often because they live so far away, but we talk and video chat sometimes and find ways to keep in touch.  Nikki is that friend that, no matter how long it's been, we pick right up where we left off.

I don't have tons of pictures for this blog.  We only got to hang for about an hour while we ate dinner.  But I had such a good time in that hour, that I wanted to get it written down.

We were eating dinner.  We had given each other a quick update on how our lives were going.  Harper was entertaining the restaurant, as usual.  And she just started in.  On what was REALLY going on in their lives.  What God was doing.  How God was moving.  We REALLY talked.

One of my favorite things about the Gatlin's is their trust in God and their trust in what He has in store for them.  They just take it all in stride and know that God will guide them and point them in the direction He wants them to go, whether they understand it now or have no idea what's coming.  And even better than that, they share everything that God is doing in their lives with others.  They are always telling people about how God has spoken to them or shown them what to do.  And that's what God desires.  For us to further His Name, His Kingdom, to spread His Gospel.

When I left Nikki, I felt refreshed.  I felt like I wanted to sit down with others and do the same thing - share how God has moved recently in my life.  I've missed having opportunities lately where I share more than just the paint colors I picked out or how Harper's doing.  I miss sharing my struggles, my prayers, my joys.  But I am grateful that Nikki reminded me how easy it can be.

So I will remember that and try to be more meaningful in my conversations.  And I know that in turn, God will guide me to others who need to hear about God moving, too.