Friendship

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

This morning, I woke up humming this little song I learned in grade school:  “Make new friends but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.”  I must have been singing out loud because later in the morning, I heard my oldest singing those very words.

What a blessing a good friend is.  In the age of social media, it is easy to mistake profile friends vs. I’m-gonna-love-you-through-trials and kick-you-in-the-pants-when-I-need-to type friends.  I’ve learned in my adult years, that it is much easier to keep shallow, casual friendships than to develop relationships that are real.  However, it is so much more rewarding to have a confidant in your life. 

In the past 10 days, I’ve gotten together with 3 very special people in my life.  One I am honored to see every week as we get our kids together and play.  She is my new friend…and I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without her!  We motivate each other to be God-centered, healthy, productive women.  Every week, I look forward to seeing her and spending time with her kids.  I prayed for a good friend in a similar season of life who loves our Lord the way I do…boy, did He deliver!

I also was privileged to get together with one of my life’s most dear friends.  We knew each other when we were little, then became very close in college.  When we get together, we can be vulnerable, deeply spiritual, and silly.  We have so many amazing memories, and look forward to making many more.  Getting together with her is literally one of those “we laughed, we cried” situations. 

Recently, I was able to spend some wonderful time with a dear friend I met in high school.  We have watched each other go through so many different seasons of life, and were always able to encourage and provoke one another in these seasons.  She is so full of life and love, and her joy is infectious!  Her children are awesome because she and her husband pour into them…these are the kind of people I love for my kids to hang around.

Each one of these women was a gift to me from God…literally.  Each one of these friendships was birthed shortly after I cried out to God for a companion while navigating different seasons of my life.  I am not only thankful that I was able to become friends with them, but that we stay active parts of each other’s lives throughout time, distance or circumstance.    

True friendship puts a spring in your step.  It’s refreshing.  It sometimes comes with correction.  Sometimes it takes vulnerability.  Sometimes it requires effort to keep it going.  It’s always worth it.  It’s always rewarding.  It’s always something I treasure most in life.

The King James Version of Proverbs 27:9 gets right to the point:  “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.”

To all of my friends: thank you for making my heart rejoice!  I’m a better woman and a better mom to have you in my life!    

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis-