Rediscovering Friendship in God’s Timing

Today I was blessed to spend several hours with a Sister I have known since 2003 but have only recently begun to know more deeply. It amazes me how God can take someone who has been quietly present on the edges of your life for years and bring them closer when your heart is finally ready to receive the friendship He intended.

This Sister is part of the Religious Community I once called home, the same community where I spent five transformative years discerning my vocation. Those were sacred years of prayer, formation, and growth, as I sought to understand God’s will for my life and where He was calling me to serve. Over time, I came to realize that my vocation was not to Religious Life but rather to serve Christ as a single woman, loving and serving others within the Church and the world through my daily work, relationships, and quiet acts of compassion.

Leaving Religious Life was not easy. It meant stepping into the unknown and trusting that God’s plan for me would continue to unfold in ways I could not yet imagine. Looking back, I can see how He never stopped guiding me. He simply redirected my path so that I could serve Him in a different yet deeply meaningful way.

Now, all these years later, God has brought this Sister back into my life in a new light. For more than two decades, I recognized her face, her smile, and her gentle spirit. We crossed paths at events, exchanged polite greetings, and went our separate ways. I always admired her from a distance for her kindness, wisdom, and peaceful way of being, but I never really knew her story, her laughter, or her heart.

In recent months, something began to change. Our conversations have grown deeper, and our time together has become more intentional and meaningful. I have always known Sister to be a woman of deep prayer and faith, yet now I am beginning to see more of the gentle joy, kindness, and humble humor that flow from her closeness with God.

Today, as we sat together for hours, I felt a calm joy that is difficult to describe. It wasn’t excitement or adrenaline; it was a deep peace that assured me I was exactly where I was meant to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do. Simply being present.

This experience made me reflect on how many people God places in our lives — some for a short time, others for a lifetime — and how often it takes time for those reasons to unfold. Sometimes we think we know someone because we have known of them, but a deeper kind of knowing happens when we slow down long enough to truly listen, to share stories, and to see the image of Christ reflected in another person.

I am grateful for this Sister and for her prayers, her laughter, and her friendship. I am also thankful for the quiet joy of reconnecting with someone from a Community that helped shape who I am today. Our time together reminded me that discernment is not a single moment in time. It is a lifelong journey of listening to God’s voice in the people and moments He places along the way.

Tonight my heart is full. What a gift it is to rediscover someone I have known for years and realize that perhaps, all along, God was simply waiting for this season for both of us to bloom in our friendship together.

Sometimes God brings people back into our lives not by accident, but by invitation. When we slow down long enough to listen, we may find that the same person who once crossed our path casually is now meant to walk beside us intentionally.

Who might God be inviting you to see with new eyes today?