Friends

I've been doing a lot of friendship-thinkin' lately. Not only did I just speak on this topic at Crossroads 2 weeks ago, but I've also just had a number of reasons to encounter new and old friends lately.
This is a picture of my beautiful friend, Stacy. It was a few weeks ago right before her little baby boy, Liam, was born. Stacy was my bestest (yep I said bestest), dearest high school (and long before that) friend. We were the friends who called each other the night before every school day to see what we were wearing the next day and went home with each other after school just because we didn't want to part-company. We told each other everything and still could. I regret the years in our 20s that we weren't in touch and have just loved getting to be part of her life again. This day was her baby shower. And I wanted to just hang around and talk to her and be near her as long as I could. I cried when I left just out of gratitude for being able to be part of celebrating her first child.

I'm also missing my Amy. I've written about Amy in the past. She lives in South Africa right now. And sometimes I miss her with an ache...the kind of missing when you long for your friend and have no idea when and where you are going to be able to see her again. It's just a hole sittin' there with little hope of getting filled up over Facebook and email.

And lately I know God has been showing me how to be a friend of His...how if I want to be in friendship with Him then I will lay down my life for my own friends. And I'm asking Him for ways to do that. And He's giving them to me. Sometimes not with the people that I thought He might. I'm actually excited to give myself up for my friends because I have a deeper understanding that it's actually GOD that I'm getting closer-to by doing that. Don't hold me to the "excitement" part: it's not always a fun proposition. But I do get, better now than ever, that when I commit to my friends, God takes that very seriously. He's serious about friendship. And the way I honor Stacy, Amy or any other friend is not just a matter between me and them: it's an issue between me and God.