My Good Friday seemed to be anything but good.

I had just found out my daughters would be spending the evening with their dad, which meant I’d be alone. It’s been two years since the divorce was finalized, and I couldn’t remember the last time I was by myself on Good Friday. I knew it was important for them to be with him, but it still hit hard. It was another shift, another reminder that life looks different now.

Easter weekend is my favorite. For years we’ve started the weekend off on Thursday with our little rendition of The Last Supper. We always order lamb, pita bread, hummus, and drink cranberry juice.

On Good Friday we go to service and then after usually go out to eat. But this year? It was just me. And while I tried to keep a good attitude, my heart wasn’t having it.

“Ok, things are different now,” I tried to console myself.

Suddenly I had no desire to make the carrot cake I had planned for the weekend. I stayed in my PJs, curled up in bed, and figured I’d just stream a Good Friday service online. That’s when a text came through from a new friend.

“Hey, do you have plans tonight?”

“No, I’m free. What do you wanna do?”

“Wanna go to dinner?”

“Yes. Also, not sure if you do the whole church thing, but my church is having service tonight at 7pm. Wanna go?”

“No, I don’t do the church thing.”

“Oh, that’s ok. Let’s go to dinner.”

“I’ll be by to pick you up in 30 minutes.”

So there I was, for the first time in years out at a restaurant eating brisket stuffed jalapeño poppers instead of at service on Good Friday. My new friend and I talked about life, where we’d been, and where we were now. What I couldn’t have anticipated was what God has in store.

As we pulled into my subdivision to drop me off she asked, “So, how is it that you’ve worked at the same place for so long?”

“Well, that goes back to my faith. I truly believe it’s what God wants me to do. I was a little girl sitting in the backseat of a car when I heard music on the radio filled with hope. I knew I needed to know more. I kept listening and now I work there.”

“Wow,” she said. “So, is that what you’re working towards? Do you want to be on the radio one day?”

“Oh, I am,” I said. “I am the producer of the KSBJ morning show and you can hear me every now and then.”

Her eyes got big - “Wait, what?! “You’re on the radio?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, I think you just converted me. What’s this radio station again?”

As I was getting out of her vehicle and telling her where she could find it I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

Once upon a time, I was the little girl peering over the backseat to catch the numbers on the radio dial. And now, thirty years later, I was being dropped off and pointing someone else toward that same source of hope.

That moment outside her car? I didn’t know how much I needed it.

I didn’t have a plan that night—just an ache in my heart and an empty spot where my tradition used to be. But I came home with my heart full of joy and a story I couldn’t wait to tell my girls.

Change can be tough, especially when it’s unexpected. I’m still navigating a lot of change, but I know God is with me and He’s with you too!

God’s presence doesn’t depend on your plans. He shows up in the quiet, in the different, in the brisket jalapeño poppers. If I’ve learned anything it’s to be open to new, be open to different, and be open to knowing that God’s plans are better than yours. That’s where faith comes in, and that’s what sets you apart my friend.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." | Isaiah 55:8-9

It’s how you walk out the unpredictable, scary, and unwanted changes that life brings, that can speak louder than any sermon. I needed that reminder. Now I’ll step out boldly into the unknown, knowing I’m not alone, and neither are you! Look for Him in every changing detail and let Him remind you of His faithfulness. I’m rooting for you!

Love,

Your Friend,

Reyna

P.S. I did get the pep in my step to make the carrot cake and it was scrumptious!