Answered prayers

I am really trying to leave my kids (and grandkids) a legacy of faith.  Most of my scrapbook stuff is really about the story and not so much about the layout or the "fun stuff" on the page.  Sometimes it is about the pictures.  But really, it is about the story, especially when it is a faith story.
This one is a little of both.
I have been praying for some time for a friend.  A close friend.  This  layout is about a very dear Godly woman.  She and her son have really touched our lives the last few years.  He is three weeks older than B.  And B adores him.  She is someone that has really become someone that I do not want to do life without.  I can see our families still being friends 20 years from now.  The prayer on the front says:  Dear Lord, I have no friends (I should probably clarify.  I have lots of friends but not many really close ones that I share life with on a fairly regular basis. This is what my prayer was based on.)  Please send me someone to:  talk with, laugh with, play with, cry with, smile with, weep with, pray with...
The journaling on the left of the layout is from a card she sent me in 2009.  Inside the pocket is a different card, 3 e-mails and then my "story."  This is the piece that I want my kids to know.  "This has been a reoccurring prayer of mine for years. Each time it is answered,  I am amazed.  Not that God answered the prayer but in the way he answered it.  Again, this prayer began in 2007 when I had recovered from post pardoum depression, but still struggled with the every day "blues."  I searched for friends.  Each time, I was accepted but not in the way that I wanted.  I still felt left out.  This seems to be the story of my life.  The one who fits in but is always outside.
God began preparing the way for this friendship long before I realized.  I met her "who knows" when.  I admired her from a far.  She always seemed so "put together."  She was what I would call a reverent person.  She was so faithful and knowledgeable when it came to God's word.  Fall of 2009 we attended a bible study together on Ruth.  I felt inadequate.  I felt lost.  I felt like I didn't belong and yet, I kept going.  I knew that God was working in me.  After class she sent me this beautiful note.  It touched my heart.  June 2010 I sent an e-mail to the ladies in my Sunday School class.  I wanted something very different for my birthday.  I wanted to pray with other women.  She came.  The evening was incredible.  To have women take the time out of their lives to pray for me.  That is what the evening ended up being.  I want to pray with someone and it became that I was being prayed for AMAZING!!!  God is truly amazing.
Aug-Sept 2010 our sons brought us together.  B and he are 3 weeks apart.  They both began biting in class.  We were asked not to bring them back to class without an adult to watch them for a month (a policy I agree with now.  At the time emotion was involved.)  We were both hurt, devastated, embarrassed, angry, and yet as God always does something beautiful came out of something bad.  She has become a very dear friend.  She is someone I can pray with.  I am blown away by how completely God answers prayers.  I want a friend to "do" stuff with and instead God provided a prayer partner who is willing to "do" stuff together."
And here is the kicker for the whole thing for me.  I made this layout in December.  And I meant every word.  Since May, we have been meeting once a week.  We have been praying for each other on a regular basis.  We have been working on a bible study together.  And, She means more today then she did in December.  I am so very thankful that my son started biting.  I am so very thankful that God has given me this very precious friend.