We just had some awesome new friends over for dinner, along with some amazing old friends. We started the evening eating Swimming Rama that Heidi made. While enjoying a glass of wine Amy (one of our new friends) brought out her homemade brownies with some vanilla ice cream. All of this food put me in a great mood for the rest of the evening (which wasn’t that hard, since I was already in a pretty great mood to begin with).

After dinner we moved outside while 9 kids ran around the yard with sticks and parts of PVC pipes fighting trolls (I’m not sure who won). The stories from the humans sitting on the patio started circling. Not those let-me-tell-you-a-funny-story type stories. But the real life this-is-my-story type stories.

Our new friends told us how they met—as non-christians—got married and moved around the country. How they went through some serious trials at the start of their marriage. And how God ultimately brought them back together and saved their marriage.

Our old friends told how God has intervened in a pretty crazy family history to start a new line of His people and redeem them from the things that they experienced growing up.

What did we share? Tonight, not much. Which I love because it gave me a chance to see God at work in two very different situations working in very similar ways.

I’ve heard my old friends’ story time and time again. But love hearing it each time as it celebrates the gental and awesome hand of God in their lives.

I loved hearing our new friends’ story for the very same reason; God working to change sinners for His glory.

God moves in each of our lives to bring us back to Him. And the way he does it is always astounding. I’m excited to share some of what God has done in my life here, and my new friend is making sure that I do that.

Even though it’s a verse I’ve grown up knowing and hearing—and sometimes looses some of it’s meaning—it keeps coming back as a refrain in my life;

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)