On Saturday I went shopping with three friends. The four of us spent five years of our lives teaching together and have been close ever since. We all used to live in the same town, but have since moved: one 3 hours away, one 10 hours away, one 1 hour away, and me - still here and not goin' anywhere. Since we love birthdays (not our own so much...they just make us older...) we always plan a huge day of shopping during the month of whoever's birthday it is. My birthday was last week, so this weekend it was my turn.
This day of being with friends got me thinking about the many wonderful friendships God has blessed me with over the years. In March I shared my testimony at a MOPS group, where they had asked me to talk about "Getting Through the Tough Times". One of my main points was this: Girlfriends Are Crucial to Survival. I think I have always known this to be true, but I don't think I fully realized that until trying times came my way. Looking back, I know that I took many friendships for granted, and for that I am sorry.
I started this post Saturday night, wrote a lot more Sunday, reworked it, reread it, and deleted pretty much all of it. As I walked down memory lane in my mind, I struggled to be able to put it all into intelligent thoughts, but I guess it all comes down to this...
Thank you to those who walked with me through...our first days of school, first recesses, first Barbies, first crushes, first dates, first boyfriends, first driver's licenses, and first time to ever move away from our closest friends (which probably would have been graduation for all of us!).
Thank you to those who walked with me through...our first times living away from home, first 7:45 a.m. college classes, first REAL long-term relationships, first real understanding of God's love for me, getting engaged (didn't think "first" would be appropriate for that one...), job searches, college graduation, and marriage.
Thank you to those who walked with me through...long days of teaching, decisions about jobs, issues of infertility, childbirth, the journey of adoption, and raising children.
You are all amazing - I know some of you are reading this (at least 4 or 5...maybe!) - I hope God blesses you richly today.
2 comments:
Thanks for that tribute--you have no idea how much we gain from our friendship with you!
No matter how much time passes in between visits, I know we'll pick up right where we left off. In the midst of all the chaos of our crazy lives now, 7:45AM Calculus doesn't seem so bad!! Not that I have the brain cells to do it now???? I'd probably have a really hard time! Hard to believe it's been 14 years!!! That makes us sound so old!
Thank you, too, for all the memories and your friendship over the years. I'm so thankful for God allowing our paths to cross, for the years we've shared, and for those that are still to come.
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