Back on July 16, the day that the first HOPE e-newsletter released, my best friend Angela sent me an email to see if I could come to her house because she had something to give me. When I got there, she came out with a card and a gift. Though Angela is a nurse by profession and not a member of the HOPE staff, she has been with me through the ups and downs of getting the newsletter and eventually the print relaunch of HOPE going.

My husband Kevin has been there too, but with him (bless his heart!), I have to explain the deep significance of all that has happened and sometimes he still doesn’t quite get it. Maybe it’s a “man thing”! Or rather, maybe it’s a “girlfriend thing” that Angela has understood it all without my having to say a single word to explain it and, at times, has even articulated it better than I could myself.

Anyway, the card attached to my gift was all about God’s timing, and inside the box was a Cadbury Crunchie Bar. Crunchie Bars became my VERY favorite candy bar after I first ate one in London, but they are hard to find in the U.S. Because the hospital where Angela works has many international doctors and nurses on staff, the gift shop often carries European candy. That’s where she found the Crunchie Bar.

When I saw what was in the box, I laughed until I nearly cried. She’d had the candy bar for a week or so and the card for even longer—all because she knew the newsletter was about to come out and that was how she wanted to congratulate me. Other people might see it as just a candy bar, but because Angela knew that I love Crunchie bars and rarely get them, it was the perfect gift from one friend to another—and perfect for a time of celebration.

Certainly, one of God’s greatest blessings to me is my friendship with Angela. We are two very different, very imperfect women whose paths crossed at just the right time for a sacred friendship to develop. The rest has been—and will become—a very sweet history.

What about you? Has a friend ever done something for you that was especially meaningful? We’d love to hear about it!