Friends

Last Thursday I had lunch with a dear friend.  I then took advantage of time and distance and spent the weekend with another dear friend!  I'm on friend overload!

I came away from my back-to-back friend bonding times with a few things that I think we all feel but few express.  I need friends.  My husband is wonderful - good listener, supporter, encourager.  My children are wonderful - respectful, listen, like me.  However, there is something about one-on-one girl time that kick starts something in me and gives me time to refuel.

Both friends know me ... I mean ... know me.  That's key, isn't it?  It's important that we have some other being on the planet outside our immediate circle that really know us.  We need others to see us be real, authentic, raw, messy ... and still love us.  We don't need to be coddled, or at least for not very long.  We need honesty.

Both friends know my past.  They have known me through various seasons in my life.  Collectively they have seen me navigate into my 20's, 30's and now 40's, get married, bear children, bury a mom, move continents.  They have walked me through a lot of stuff.  They've been there and that's really important and key.  We need others to be there for us ... they may have no answers but we know they are there, loving us, hurting alongside with us, and often whipping us into shape.

Friends are true gifts.  Friends build you up.  Friends hold you together.  Friends refresh and revive.  If you can count the number of friends that fit this description - then you are blessed.  Not everyone is supposed to know all your "stuff".  However, those few that do and hold it dear - priceless!

Being thankful for my few,
christina