"What I have planned that will I do." - Isaiah 46:11 (NIV)

I had just been through great amounts of loss in my life. I lost an old friend, my sister, my father, and my health. Now I was housebound due to my illness. I sat alone wondering, what's next Not long after this, my friend Sue, told me that her husband was offered a new job in another state. They would be moving, soon. Sue and I had been friends through thick and thin since the fifth grade. I would greatly miss our regular visits together.

I had other friends, but they lived hectic lives. Our contact was infrequent. I really desired a close friend. So, I set my face like flint to pray and ask God to, "Send me a friend." I thought this was an impossible request, since I couldn't get out to meet anyone. But, regardless of these circumstances, I continued to pray. I recorded these prayers in my journal.

One evening my stepdaughter and her soon-to-be fiancé stopped by. As we sat and talked, oddly, Michael mentioned the name of my old departed friend, Patrea. "She was good friends with my mother, Bonnie," he said. I immediately remembered meeting Bonnie at a prayer meeting that I had attended at Patrea's house several years ago. When my stepdaughter learned of that I had been praying, she started working behind the scenes to reunite us.

In the meantime, Bonnie was praying for a new friend. She too, had suffered some losses of friendships. She was lonely and in desperate need of some female companionship. She was praying, "Send me a friend."

When Bonnie heard that we had been mutual friends with Patrea, it instantly piqued her interest. She did not recall our chance encounter twelve years before, but knew inside, that this could be a relationship that might work. As she went to prayer, God began telling her, that she and I would be good friends. Whenever I went to God in prayer, He was telling me that Bonnie and I would be good friends.

I decided to take the first step. I got Bonnie's phone number and gave her a call. We had a great conversation and set up a visit. It has been a match made in heaven. The day finally arrived when Bonnie came to my door. She visits me regularly and we pray, study the Bible, and watch girl movies together. It is as if we were kindred spirits all along. Since that day, not only are we good friends, but relatives, through marriage. What a plan God had all along some twelve years ago, to reunite two people at a time when they needed it most.

Shortly thereafter, I received a second response to this much sought after request. I was given the name of a friend's friend to add to my writing ministry list. As I would send her writings, she sent back responses, telling me how they touched her heart. We became pen pals. What an exciting time it was, making new friends.

As my writing gift started to grow, I felt the need for the friendship of another writer. I needed someone that understood writing. I wanted another writer to bounce off issues and ideas with. My other friends were very supportive, but they lacked that personal understanding. My rationale was, when I was a nurse I had several nurse friends. So, I continued in my prayer this time for a specific kind of friend.

A short while later, the answer came to this request, when I came across the book of another devotional writer. I was reading some stories on a favorite web-site of mine, and was fascinated by the information given about this author. I was intrigued by the name of her book, Celebrate Life and the fact that she too, was a devotional writer.

Something inside of me felt the need to order her book. As I was putting the order information in the envelope, there came a thought... Why not send her a few writings of your own? So, I did. About two weeks later, her book arrived with a note thanking me for my writings, and an invitation to e-mail her. I excitedly accepted the invitation and after a few e-mails. I knew our friendship had begun.

God had a plan ready to answer my prayer for new friendships, even though my circumstance made it seem utterly impossible! I continue to marvel how He answered my prayer, not once, but three times, as I recorded it in my journal ... "Lord, send me a friend."