First Time Jitters and Virtual Friends

First time jitters – terrifying, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, heart pounding joy—all of that! Those feelings were just a few of the feelings I had when first meeting Pam Jarvis. I’m an adult who’s met lots of new people and made a lot of new friends over the course of my life. This time was different. Why?

Well, I had spoken with Pam over the phone since 2000 but I had never met her in person.  Some people thought I was crazy; some people thought she was crazy; but when she proclaimed generously, “I’ve got to meet you! I’m getting an airplane ticket. Will you come to Ft. Worth, Texas for a week?” I said, “yes!” I was thrilled;  and just a bit nervous too.

When I got there, it was quite a meeting, really a reunion of sorts. Pam and I had worked virtually together for years, studied the Bible together by phone, shared our time, trials and advice. We had become friends in spirit. So while it may have been our first face to face meeting, in many ways it felt like the most normal thing in the world.

Pam is such a good friend, I thought I couldn’t love her more; but as the week went by quickly, I found new wonderful little things to enjoy about Pam. I’ll share more about our week together in future posts. I’m disciplined and am naturally reserved. Pam is sociable, vivacious, a genuine connector and lover of people. She’s unflappable, I’m a bit of a wreck if things don’t go as planned. These two opposites had a blast! Pam knows how to roll out the red carpet and did she ever! Here a picture of all the lovely goodies she had chosen for me. A beautiful bathing suit (it fit perfectly), two lovely dresses in my favorite color purple and a basket of all kinds of lovely toiletries, the kind you’d never buy for yourself! It was as if she knew me better even than I knew myself!

Before I left for my trip, my lovely friend Dona prayed for my trip along with my other Bible study buddies. I was dumbstruck by her insights into my trip and continued to ponder them while I was with Pam. Dona said that meeting Pam would be just a tiny foretaste of meeting Jesus in person for the first time. I love that!! There is an old song by E.E. Hewitt (1898) redone by Brad Paisley “When We All Get To Heaven”  that has a lyric “When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be!”

I’ve never met Jesus face to face, but I know Him through His Word, through prayer, through other Christians. One day, I will meet Him face to face. A more recent song by MercyMe wonders, “I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me.” Sometimes, I’m not sure I can even imagine! How would you feel about meeting the King of the Universe in person for the first time? He is the very special Lord of your life that you’ve known and loved for years, what would you do? What would you say? What would you feel? Can you imagine? What a day of rejoicing indeed!!