Reflecting in East Texas

I drove home this past Monday to visit my parents for a few days. Well, actually, I wasn't driving to my "home" growing up, but to my parents' new home in a nearby town. However, as M slept in the backseat, I reflected upon memories of high school and even college as I headed into the piney woods. (The trees have changed colors along the road, and are gorgeous! I am reminded of how much pavement and shopping centers surround me in the city...and yes, strange that the leaves are just changing at the end of November) I thought about old relationships I had and with hindsight wondered what in the world I was possibly thinking. Or how insecure must I have been to date some of those particular guys. And how amazing it is to see God's hand of protection over me, keeping me until I met my perfect mate (and he is SO perfect for me). I reflected on old friendships, most of which I no longer keep up with. It made me really sad to think about my best friend from high school, in particular. We hardly talk and she just lives 45 minutes away (and with email, skype and cell phones, you hardly have an excuse even if you live thousands of miles away). I miss Summer. Maybe I should try to rekindle our friendship. I know why we began to grow distant. Maybe it's time to change that.
Sometimes I get so upset with God that he "takes my friends away" from me. I feel like I'm in a period of time where my friends are either highly mobile or are so busy with their changing (and growing) lives that not just physical distance begins to creep in and separate. And yet now as I have been thinking about my past and how God has been in control at every step...and has acted in my best interest at every point, I realize that He does indeed have a plan. He's not trying to make me miserable. He's trying to teach me, mold me, conform me. It's a lot to ponder on the drive from Fort Worth. Good think I'll have some more time when I head back tomorrow.