Sweet Home Santa Barbara

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Story of a Friendship

Has there ever been a time where a new friend has walked into your life, and you just know the friendship is a gift from God? 

This seems to be happening more and more lately, and I just am blown away by how much God loves us and desires for us to have community

Meet Sherry:


I'm going to tell the story of how I met Sherry, because it's a pretty unique one. 

In order to be told fully, I have to go back to a friend of mine, Jorge. Jorge and I went to college together, and we both were in the same major (Math/Econ, aka the cool kids on campus). Our major was fairly small for our ginormous college, so a handful of us got pretty close as we baaarely made it through our last Math and Econometrics courses. 

We would spend hours cramming for those midterms and finals, and making up answers to homework assignments that we were lucky if we understood the question correctly. 

In those hours, not once did faith come up in conversation. I certainly wasn't living as a Christian would at that time, so why would it?

About 6 months after college, I started falling in love with Christ. I didn't want to keep the news to myself, but I wasn't quite sure how to share it with others. So I did the most logical thing I could think of: I started posting about it on facebook. 

And each time I'd post something in those first few months, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the response that it would receive. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about what people would think. 

I was always so excited when someone I didn't expect would "like" or comment on a status. It was a reminder to me of how God is so much bigger than I think He is, capturing so many other hearts each and every day. 

Jorge was one of those people that consistently "liked" those comments. And after the two of us finally connected for lunch one day, I found out that God had been pursuing Jorge's heart since graduating, just like He had been with mine. 

Jorge invited me to a Bible talk that he was leading, and there, I met a senior who was applying for a position at the company where I worked. 

Her name was Sherry. 


I told Sherry that I would love to help her in any way that I could, so we exchanged a few e-mails in the week that followed. But months went by, and I didn't hear anything from her. Nor did I see her lovely self at work, so I assumed something else was in store for her. 

That is, until my boss mentioned that we had hired someone new in our department. This was months after that Bible talk, so I had to dig into my archived e-mails to double check before realizing that Miss Sherry herself was about to join my team!

I was so excited to have another Christian on my team. I loved that Sherry brought her Bible to work like I did, and was so inspired by her bible verse sticky notes that she posted around her cubicle. 

I was encouraged by the confidence that Sherry carried. It was so apparent to me that her identity was solidified in Christ, that she lived her life to bring Him glory. She was most definitely an inspiration to me. 

Little did I know, it wasn't in God's plan for us to work together for very long. 

(You can read all about my God driven career change here.)

On our very first lunch date, I told Sherry that I had given my notice and would be leaving in the next few weeks. 

As God would have it, that was our first of many lunch dates. 

Out of all of my coworkers from within my department at my last job, Sherry, the one who I spent the least amount of time working with, is the one who I have kept in touch with the most. 

It felt good to leave knowing that another Christian was filling my shoes. And it felt really good to leave with an excellent example of what it looks like to bring Christ into your workplace.
(Thanks, Sherry!)

My new cubicle is now covered in Bible verse sticky notes. 

14 comments:

Leah said...

tell me why i got a little teary reading this? i know what you mean. at work before i got moved to another location i was surrounded by fellow believers. our talks about the Lord's faithfulness and testimonies we would share of the daily things He was doing for us, were the best talks. Unfortunately where I've been moved to it seems as though I have no believers around. I know though that I am to be used to shine differently. This is a great story Amy!

HK said...

What an awesome story! I feel the same way lately-- that I've had godly people put in my path who are struggling with the same sorts of things I am. This causes me to relate to them more than to others, and inspires me to continue pursuing my own faith journey more doggedly. Ironically enough, most go to your church, not mine (you are, of course, included among them)! Go figure, eh? ;-)

Amy said...

@Leah I get SUPER emotional over ANYthing that I can sense God in, ha! The littlest thing will absolutely bring tears to my eyes :)

And @HK I am so thankful for people (like you!) on this walk with me. Through allll the windy twists and turns, ha! Have you ever checked out Reality? If not, you should totally come sometime! I'm definitely a believer that all churches are amazing in their own ways, though. Definitely just about finding that perfect fit to foster your own growth, and I'm sure that fit will change as we grow and develop in our walk with the Lord! I've heard wonderful things about your church :)

HK said...

From time to time, I do consider looking elsewhere, but I love our pastor (so humble and down to earth) and the people-- we've made some great friends there. They are the ones who keep me coming back, despite the fact that I don't always agree with their theological stances on some issues, and the fact that our current venue is less than ideal, IMO. At the same time, in terms of personal spiritual growth, I find myself drawing more strength and inspiration from other folks (like you) whom I just happen to know outside of Hope. Maybe I will check out Reality sometime-- it's pretty big, isn't it? I think I find big churches a bit daunting ;-)

Oh, and totally agreed on the fact that the right church fit will change as you grow. Hope is primarily a nonbeliever/seeker-oriented church, and so it's no surprise that people "outgrow" it eventually.

Amy said...

@HK I definitely want to check out Hope sometime! I love checking out other churches, getting different messages, hearing different worship, all that jazz!

Reality is big, but ironically it feels SO small to me! I found that at all of my other churches, I never really sought out community. It was amazing how much community God plugged me into just weeks into going to Reality. I'd like to say it was my initiative, but I know it was Him doing all the work :) I totally know what you mean about people keeping you at a church, I feel like Reality is my family now that I can't imagine every switching!

HK said...

My son's old school was affiliated with the Orthodox church, and we went to services at St. Athanasius once. We also checked out St. Mike's Episcopal church in IV over the summer (it was one of the few open-and-affirming churches in SB). While the "trimmings" (rituals, worship, etc) were drastically different from what I'm used to, the core was the same. So it really is interesting to see how other churches, especially those denominations with long, rich histories, do their services.

I've noticed that a lot of former Hope members now attend Reality. So, I guess, as big as it is, I'd probably instantly run into a whole host of people I already know, anyway, on my first visit there! ;-)

Amy said...

@HK yupp! I bet you would! We Christians are all one giant family anyhow :)

Kiki said...

What an awesome friendship you have! I love that the two of you have Bible verse sticky-notes on your cubicles, those are some of the best daily reminders of God's great love for us.

And girl, thanks for writing about posting about your faith on Facebook. That's something I have yet to do and feel like I need to do soon. :)

Classy in The Classroom said...

That's true friendship right there! What a beautiful story!! :)

ClassyInAClasssroom.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how God provides us community! What a great story of His provision- for you and the company!

SH said...

What a wonderful friendship - God is amazing :)

Hope you're having a wonderful day!
-Sheree
The Hartungs Blog
thehartungs.blogspot.ca

Melissa said...

That is awesome! I love it! :)

Rach said...

Oh I love this! It is amazing how God brings people into our lives just when we need them. :)

Melissa Jo said...

Love this story! I am challenging myself to be bold my relationship with Christ and talk about it open and freely even with my coworkers. I have am AMAZING God so why would I be so hush about it. I have verse post-its notes everywhere and even got to share a little about my personal bible study this week with my REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT! #winningforthekingdom