Warm Little Fuzzies

It's cold outside. The kind of cold where your snot freezes in your nose and your car doesn't begin to get warm until you are pulling into the parking lot of your destination. It's weather like this that reminds me why I have such a passionate love affair with my car's heated seats.

While I was killing time on facebook today, I noticed a picture of an old friend. I haven't talked to her in years, and likely didn't really leave a great impression the last time she saw me. We lived in two different worlds at that point. Hers was situated somewhere in the galaxy of conservative Christianity. Mine was in a completely different galaxy, commonly known as "Sara has lost her ever loving mind." (I think some of my decisions in the last few years would prove that there is no intelligent life on that planet. But I digress.)

Mandy was one of the first friends I made in my freshman year at Western Kentucky University. She was smart, friendly, witty, and my favorite trait, sarcastic. She would slather it on thick like peanut butter, and did it with such a straight face that I joked she needed a sign to hold up so the rest of the world would know when she was kidding. She was amazing, and I enjoyed her friendship for several years.

This is a picture of us from (I think) 1999 at Christmas

Conference. I have no idea whose hat I'm wearing,

and I can't apologize enough for those overalls. If I had known that a.) I looked like a truck driver, and b.) a few years down the road there would be this little thing known as social networking where these pictures will resurface without warning and show up on your profile for the whole world to comment on, I may have made a wiser wardrobe selection that morning. Damn you, Mark Zuckerberg.

Anyway, Mandy became my friend quickly and we went on many trips like this one with the Christian organization we were both involved in. But my experience with this group turned sour, and as this happened, I began to rebel against all things Christian. I've had a lot of anger about it for several years, and have (shamefully) lumped most of the participants of this organization into a group I've labeled, "People that will never get me."

But there are a couple of old friends that I think of from time to time and get warm little fuzzies. Every now and then I'm reminded of the good times. The late night talks, the inside jokes, and the encouragement. It's moments like these where I catch a tiny glimpse of the amazing grace of God, and remember that even in a bad experience that His grace was still there.

My heart leapt with joy when I saw Mandy's picture today. She's lost A TON of weight and looks A-MAZING! She took control of her life, stopped running away from her issues, and from what I can tell just started running her ass off. I don't think I've ever rejoiced so freely while alone in my kitchen as I did when I saw that picture of her today. If only she could put her awesome in a jar, I would most certainly buy it and smear it on a wheat thin.

I guess it doesn't matter how cold it is outside. You just can't stop a warm little fuzzy.