Roommate and Friend

One of the biggest blessings I have experienced while living overseas is my roommate Anna. Months ago, after finding out that I would be coming overseas I was given Anna's email address and the two of us began to talk on a semi-regular basis in hopes of getting to know one another and to help prepare for our time here. From the beginning I remember telling people that I thought Anna and I would get along wonderfully, little did I know how right that was. Coming to serve overseas doesn't always mean that you are going to like the people that you are working with, that you will get along or that you will even be friends. If having one of these strained relationships with your teammate is the case, I could see how your time spent overseas would be that much harder to handle.

The Lord and His provision never cease to amaze me. Not only has He given me someone that I get along with but He has given me someone I actually like. Over our time here, seven weeks today!, our friendship has grown with each passing week. I feel like our strengths and weaknesses compliment one another. Anna is much stronger in getting us places around the city and I am able to more easily recall words and phrases. We have grown comfortable with one another's presence. We can sit in coffee shops or in the house for hours speaking only a few words to one another but being completely at peace in the silence. It is so encouraging to have Anna's familiar face looking back at me on bus packed with strangers. It does my heart well to exchange a smirk with her when something completely socially acceptable yet none the less awkward happens and we know what the other is th

inking. In recent days I have begun to contemplate how Anna is one of the only people who will ever be able to fully understand this experience, because she is living it with me 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We are a constant in one another's lives. No matter how much I try to explain life here to loved ones back home and all over the States, they will never fully know. Yet, the Lord has given me a roommate, teammate, partner and friend who understands. She understands the frustrations and joys. She lays up late at night with me laughing. She gets my homesickness, and experien

ces it alongside me. She listens to my thoughts and has wonderful insight. I love her. And am very thankful to have her here with me.

In learning to live with someone constantly the Lord has taught me several things. Anna and I are literally with one another all the time. And when I say all the time, I mean all the time. Never in my life have I had a constant shadow, or been one, and I presume I never will again. Even when I marry one day to some extent we will lead separate lives throughout the day. Again, it comes back to the Lord's provision. If we didn't love one another, our time here would be miserable. In learning to live with someone constantly I feel the Lord has begun to shape me into a woman who can one day be a wife. I have learned to stop living so selfishly. I have someone else who is my other half in this season of life who has wants and needs. My decisions directly affect her- even simple things about when we will leave and what we will eat. I feel this has been a tremendous training for one day being a wife. Being a part of a set. From my wedding day on it will be me and my husband- we will forever be viewed as a pair. Just as during this season I am Sarah and Anna- always together. A team, but mostly friends.