Redeemed Wanna be Punk Teens

A week ago, I met with an old friend to chat about life. This old friend was one of my best friends in middle school. Jeff, Caycee, and I were a trio that spent a lot of time together. We were like Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda... just instead of wearing colorful, crazy prints and flowers, we wore clothing with skulls, flames, and cars... and instead of trying to be "seriously cool," we were aiming for "seriously B. A."

As Jeff and I sat at the Fry'n Pan drinking coffee and tea catching up on life these last two years, he brought up the old days. He mentioned how crazy it is to think about where we once were and where we are now. 

I had to laugh. When people talk about who we once were, my friends laugh in disbelief as I try to paint the picture of middle-school Kayla, and last week, I had a friend who knows middle-school Kayla almost as well as I do sitting in front of me telling me about her. 

For those of you who don't know, middle-school Kayla was obsessed with rap, wanted to marry Ja Rule (or at least someone like him since he was a little old), had swearing contests with her friends, and was headed for trouble. Middle-school Jeff was right there with her sharing in the trouble. Jeff put it this way: We were always teetering on the line, pressing against it, crossing it sometimes, but trying to stay close. 

If I knew where my pictures from middle school were, I would include one here so you could see our awesomeness. But since my life is pretty much packed in totes in multiple locations, you'll just have to imagine what we looked like.

Jeff is a friend who experienced the difficult things in life with me. He's a part of my experience of being grounded for a semester. He knew about the things in life I was rebelling against. He knew how much I hated life and my reason for it. 

But Jeff is also a friend who experienced some beautiful things in life with me. We went to Castaway for Wyld Life camp together. We were involved in separate youth groups in high school and shared Bible study experiences.

God reached in and grabbed both of us out of that place of pushing against the lines and rebelling. God extended his grace to both me and Jeff in a very vulnerable season of our lives. 

Last week, I sat and talked with Jeff about the old days and the current days. God is doing great things in both of our lives right now as he continues to reveal to each of us what gifts he's given us. He's showing both of us more of the brokenness and need in America and the rest of the world.

It was so lovely to see the gift we've been given -- a timeless friendship that can be filled with rejoicing and understanding as we continue to grow in the LORD. Jeff and I rarely see each other, but when we do meet, we can share the fullness of the awesomeness of life. Sometimes, I struggle with meeting with old friends trying to explain how God changed my life. But with Jeff, I don't have to struggle; he gets it. He's there too. 

It is so humbling to know that God would save some wanna be punk teens, change their lives, and allow them to do crazy, big things that are beyond their former wanna be punk dreams. 

And so now, I'm praising God for the miraculous work he's done in me and Jeff and praying for the old friends that we lost touch with, asking God to do miraculous things in their lives as well. 

What timeless friendships do you have that you can see God's beautiful work in? Have you grabbed coffee with or called those friends recently?