My Church Soulmate

A little over a year ago, I started to become good friends with this girl at church named Jenny. Jenny wasn't a complete stranger to me when they started coming to church. She and my sister-in-law Ashley had gone to high school together, and I'd met Jenny before at a few of Ashley's wedding events.



This is Jenny. Ty thinks we look like we could be sisters. Neither of us are really sure what compelled us to hold hands while we listened to Ty sing at the reception. I guess that's what you do with your "church soulmate," as we call each other. But this picture really does perfectly capture our friendship. Jenny is one of those friends that I know God divinely placed in my life, hence the soulmate thing.  

A few months after our friendship began to develop, Jenny suddenly and unexpectedly lost her mom. I never had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Norma, but she was Jenny's best friend, and from everything I hear, she was an incredible woman. I never really knew what to tell Jenny since I never had the mother-daughter relationship that she shared with her mother. And although my experience is the opposite of Jenny's, I could relate to the void she felt. 

I get glimpses of the person Mrs. Norma was every time I'm around Jenny. I see that she was an wonderful mom through watching Jenny with her own children. I tell Jenny all the time that she's my model for how Ty and I will raise our children! I see her in Jenny's smile and facial features -- Mrs. Norma looked just like Jenny when she was her age.

Jenny is strong and creative and caring. She's thoughtful and giving, and she never shies away despite how raw life can leave you sometimes. In all that Jenny has experienced over the past year, I'm glad she opened up and let new people, like me, into her life. I would have hated to miss out on such an amazing friendship ... not to mention, my church soulmate.