Grace personified

Friends are the grace of God in our lives. And how abundant His grace has been towards us! I could write a post a day about the wonderful people the Lord has brought into our lives, and I wouldn't be done a year from now.
This is Will and his "Mimi" Diane:

My family has been friends with the Youmans since I was in the single digits, when they lived down the street from us on Heartley Drive. Over the years, unique circumstances have forged an inseparable, irreplaceable bond between us.
Dave and Diane's daughter Dana and I were dear friends. We rode bikes, played with her Barbie playhouse, and raced each other to see who could eat a bowl of Rice Krispies the fastest. In His mysterious, sovereign plan, the Lord took Dana home when she was just ten years old.

Me and Dana, Halloween night

On one of our many bike rides one day not long before the Lord took her home, Dana was talking about a young boy we knew who had recently died in a car accident. "I'd hate to die young," she said, "because my parents would be so sad." It was as if the Lord had gently put death on Dana's young mind, and she responded selflessly to the thought. Little did I know that just a few years after that afternoon bike ride, I'd be babysitting for the little sisters Dana would never meet. And then 15 years after that, Dana's sisters would be babysitting for Will.
Neither did we know that just five years after that afternoon bike ride, Diane would begin caring for my mom, in the unique, special way only Diane could, after mom got the brain tumor diagnosis. Diane's friendship and care for mom were steady and constant over mom's 16-year battle. I am aware that at one point, mom asked Diane to look out for me if anything ever happened to her. What a lofty request. And one that Diane graciously took to heart.
She was with my bridesmaids and me when I got married, she threw me an awesome baby shower like only Diane could, she and Devyn kept Will several times during mom's bedside vigil, she brought me a printed copy of mom's testimony the morning mom passed, and now that the dust has settled, she still comes and keeps Will once a week so I can have some free time. (And really, that's only a small sampling of the things she has done for me!) She is Will's surrogate Grandma, "Mimi."
It goes without saying that things don't always turn out the way we expect. But this is what I take to the bank: The sovereign Lord who is in charge of those circumstances works all things out for my good. The Youmans are that "good" in my life.