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"I have some bad news," Andrea said softly. "My dad's getting transferred."

"You're moving?" I asked, stunned. "Where?"

Tears fell down Andrea's cheeks. "To Texas," she said between deep sighs. "It's a thousand miles away."

I went home that night and couldn't stop crying. My best friend was moving, and I felt like God was totally letting me down.

I met Andrea right before my freshman year, and I always considered her friendship an answer to prayer.

Before I knew Andrea, I honestly didn't have one friend at school. Throughout eighth grade, I was the kid no one wanted to eat lunch with. For some reason, kids always teased me and made fun of me. I felt so alone.

I prayed every day that God would bring one person into my life who would be a friend. I often wondered why he didn't answer my prayers.

I'd almost given up hope of ever having a friend, when my parents let me switch schools. That's when I met Andrea. We clicked instantly. Finally, I had someone to talk to at school and hang out with on the weekends. She was a strong Christian and invited me to her youth group, too.

Now that Andrea was moving, I felt like God was taking back his answer to my prayer. I was sure I'd once again be the friendless girl who was lonely and depressed.

During the weeks before she moved, Andrea and I prayed that her family wouldn't have to leave. Since I prayed so hard and often, I was positive God would work some miracle so Andrea wouldn't have to go. But the day finally came when we had to say goodbye.

A few weeks later, I started my junior year feeling more empty and alone than ever. One day, I ran into some of the kids from Andrea's youth group. I'd hung out with them a few times before, but figured they only talked to me because I was Andrea's friend. I was surprised when they invited me to eat lunch with them. They encouraged me to come back to their youth group. I knew it wouldn't be the same without Andrea, but I agreed to go anyway.

When I started to feel comfortable at youth group, I told my youth pastor that I didn't understand why God hadn't answered my prayers. He explained that God answers all of my prayers, but sometimes the answer is no. He told me that with faith, I could have peace about God's answer, no matter what it was.

That was hard for me to swallow and I told him so. "All I wanted was a friend, someone I could talk to," I complained. "I don't understand why God would say no to something that's so important to me."

My youth pastor then said something like this: "I promise to pray for you, Gabby. I'd also encourage you to keep praying. But this time, why don't you pray that God would use this experience to deepen your faith. And pray that he would bring new friends into your life."

Then one night, while I was at youth group just goofing around, it hit me that God had been listening to me. He had answered my prayers—and this time with a "yes." Even though my best friend was no longer around, God had "replaced" her with an awesome youth group. I had many people who supported me and loved me.

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