Friendship

A couple of years ago, one of our MOPS mentors talked to our group about friendships.

There are friends for the road. These are the friends that come into our lives as we travel the different roads of life. These are friends that come and sometimes go, but dear friends as we share significant life stages or life happenings with.

And there are friends of the heart. The friends that are with us forever. Those friends that we have known for a long time, and that even when years have gone by, when we get together, our hearts are still connected.

Two weeks ago I traveled to Mexico for my grandmother's funeral. In my trip, I got to see a few of my friends of the heart. Friends that I have known for a long time, and friends that are so dear to me. Spending time with them makes me realize how much I miss them, and how I wish we could do life together, go out for a cup of coffee or for lunch.
My friend Yuri. We have known each other since we were in sixth grade. We were both moving to the same town and ended up in the same room at our middle school when we were taking our acceptance test. She sat in front of me and we really hit it off. The first day of school, in seventh grade, I ran to see the class list and was relieved that we had been placed in the same class. I waited for her by the door and as soon as she walked in I knew I was not alone.

What a dear friend she has been to me for seventeen years! (I know you are all doing the math, how old am I?)

We shared all the teenage drama, boyfriends, heartaches, family frustrations. We laughed and cried together, and her parents and little brother (now a handsome young man) were like family to me.

I got to see Yuri two times when I was in Mexico, and we talked and talked and talked. She is a beautiful woman and I love her dearly. Amazing how after years of not seeing each other, it did not matter at all. She is still, and will always be, one of my closest friends.

I met Rumi when I was 3 years old. A very long time ago. Our moms were friends, but every morning we greeted each other at school with a frown. Play dates rarely ended well. Then she moved to the US for a few years and came back in third grade. Although I was not a good friend at the beginning, by the end of the year we decided to like each other.

Anyone that knows me, knows Rumi. My friends from college know her, she came to visit. My friends from camp know her, she came and volunteered for a month. On my wedding, she stood by me. And even people from our church know her, as she went on a missions trip to Ensenada to a special needs orphanage to help translate. A life long friend.

Amazing that God, who created us to his image, created us to be relational beings, and He blesses us with friends that we can do life with.

Today, I am thankful for my friends of the heart.

For more on my thoughts on friendship, you can click here and read an article that was published by Christianity Today in MomSense magazine.