20th Reunion

My 20th high school reunion is this weekend. I'm excited to see friends I've kept up with but don't often see, and I'm excited to see those I haven't seen in 20 years! I also think it will be fun that a couple of the events include our children.

The usual conversation is going back-and-forth among friends: what are you going to wear? And I know I need to spend some time packing today for all of us! Packing for four (my husband has to do his own) is definitely a time-consuming process, especially if we are supposed to look cute all weekend!

When I graduated from high school in 1990, a friend's mother gave several of us little white monogrammed pillows to take with us to college. The monogram read "Jer. 29:11."

I did not know the verse and went home to look it up.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,'declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11).

I love that The Word is living and active, that this scripture holds true today as it did 20 years ago.

Some friends may not be in a place they wanted to be at their reunion--whether because of a few more wrinkles, no time for highlights, extra baby weight, or more serious issues like divorce or job loss. But that does not mean the Lord doesn't have plans for a hope and a future for them (and me).

I also think of the friends that I wish would be there that won't. One in particular makes me cry right this second. My sweet friend Elizabeth passed away from breast cancer the summer my first baby was born, 5 years ago. I still ache, thinking of her. I am thankful for her life and the ways she taught me--both in middle school, high school and beyond. I am thankful she is with the Lord and that my hope and future with her is still to come.

Who knows what the weekend will bring? But the Lord knows the plans He has for us.