Today, I smiled.

Today I received a letter in the mail from a dear friend who left for the Navy about two months ago. The first letter he sent simply said, "Hey Kristen, what's up?" He was always a funny kid, and his letter definitely made me laugh. Only Andrew would send such a simple letter, but I knew he honestly cared about my reply. I kept my letter back to him short, speaking of light topics such as school and work.

However, today I received his second letter. It was four pages long, and his words made it seem like he was right next to me again. It brought me back to the time we hung out in my room, or when we sat on his floor playing Halo. The way he spoke of our time together, how he said thinking about it made him happy, and how he said he wanted to get coffee when he is back in town all made me miss him. Coffee. He knows me. Yes, we will sit and talk about life, God, the Navy, school, and all that, but such a simple request means so much to him now that he is so far away. Wow. How often do we take for granted the fact that we can get a cup of coffee whenever we feel like it? 

He told me other things they did in physical training, but I will leave out the gruesome details. He told me that he was using his letters to me as a type of journal, written different days throughout the week, each with new events and feelings that he knew no other way to express. Well, at least to me. (yes, he even indicated the new days and everything. :] haha)

I knew him for only 3, maybe 4, months before he shipped out, but it was the kind of bond that was meant to last longer. I'm not confessing some secret love or anything, but rather saying how God works in our lives is crazy. This guy. This random dude I met on a lake with my church, he would be writing me letters months later from a different city, sharing his inner most thought with me. The Lord put Andrew in my life out of nowhere, and He intends for him to be in it for much longer. 

This idea just makes me realize how quickly things can change. In the blink of an eye, I could be in love, fall down, or die. We just never know. But I am grateful that I was blessed with such an amazing friend and son of God who will help me through this time when I have so much on my mind. 

Andrew Peters, I don't know if you'll ever read this, but thank you. Thank you for being there for me, and thank you for helping me through problems that you don't even know exist yet. I hope I get to see you very soon. 

I love you and I know you will always be there for me to rely on. I'm praying for you. 

:) Support the Troops.