"Hi." "Hi." "Let's be friends." "Best friends."

Have you ever met people that you clicked with instantly?

It doesn't happen often with me. Not because I don't like people. Despite how ingoing (I think I just made up that word, and I hope you understand what I mean) I am, I honestly am the type of person who likes everyone she meets. Only after spending quite a bit of time with someone will I start to recognize things that don't necessarily jive with me. If only I were more outgoing, I'd be one of those people who never knows a stranger. I already feel that way internally, it just doesn't translate outwardly.

So like I was saying, that doesn't happen often with me. Because I'm so clammed up and awkward. So when it does happen, I get really excited.

I just spent a few hours talking to some people who fit that category. Our general locations were Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, but thanks to the Internet and a wonderful service called Skype we were able to have a big group chat. Kinda like the old party lines on the telephone, only this allows your neighborhood to extend much further than a few miles. There was lots of laughing amongst us. Many stories shared. It felt like a family reunion. But not one of those awkward ones where you don't know anyone except the people you came with and your grandmother, you know? Or am I the only one who has those?

Surprisingly enough, all of these people were people whom I first communicated with over the Internet. The part of the Internet occupied by the band downhere's message boards, to be specific. Only two of the ones in the conversation tonight have I met in person, and two of them I had not audibly talked to before tonight. Introvert that I am, I never thought I would get along so well with people I met on the Internet. Conceptually, it's a strange phenomenon.

But maybe that's a big part of the reason that I connect so well with them. People have a tendency to abandon pretense when communicating over the Internet, so you get a lot of honestly and are able to get to know them in a way that doesn't often happen when meeting face to face. We also seem to have a lot in common. Most obviously, we're the kind of people who can easily spend a lot of time on the Internet. Not everyone can do that. Also obviously, we share musical tastes, at least in part, because we like the same band. And in reality, "like" is too much of an understatement.

Most of all, though, I think what connects us is something deeper, something that defines each of our lives. Simply stated, that is Jesus. For people who have never had this experience, I can't properly explain it to you, but if you have, you'll know what I'm talking about: no matter how well our personalities have or have not matched, when I meet someone whose heart has been captured and changed by Jesus, I can tell, and I feel a bond immediately. It's an experience unlike any other I've had.

So with all this in common, and our willingness to fully accept all of our various eccentricities, when we get together, you'd think we grew up together, or lived with each other, or something.

People like these are special. If you have relationships like these, hold on to them.