Friends

Friends are such an important part of everyone's life. They are the people you lean on, you ask for advice and even just have a great time with. They are there for you when you're far away from your family, or are having problems with family. They're there for you when you get a job or a promotion, or when you get fired, or have trouble with your boss. They are there when you just need someone to listen, or a shoulder to cry on.

I say all of this because lately I have learned just how important friends are to me. In high school I had my good friends, Allison, Emily and Jill. We shared the same interests, and were involved in the same activities. I considered them my best friends. Looking back, I never shared anything especially deep with them, part of that was probably I was still young and figuring out what my own desires, morals and ambitions were. But I'm still so thankful for that group of girls.

My first day of college is where I met Kirstie, who I still considered my closest and best friend (even though we live 1500 miles apart). Kirstie and I never had a stage where we were really just friends, we became best friends right away. Kirstie was always the first one I ran to with both problems and excitement. We would spend hours taking walks around campus talking, staying up late watching movies, walking home from Target in the dark, (an activity neither of us would recommend). Even today with me living in Texas and her living in Minnesota, the moment we hear each other's voice on the phone, we pick up right where we left off the last time we talked. She is truly the most amazing friend in the world.

There was one time in college when Kirstie couldn't be there for me because she travelled to England for the semester (lucky girl!) And ironically it was the one semester I needed a best friend the most. I had gone through a horrible break up right before classes started, and God knew I needed someone, so he brought Megan into my life. She and I had never met before that 1st day of Block 2 (all Bethel Education majors know what Block 2 is like) but from that moment she was there for me, and became a great friend. She is still a wonderful friend to me.



I have had other good friends through the years that I have always been able to count on, and whom I love very much, Melody, Debbie, Sarah and especially my sister Lindsay.


When Jared and I moved to Texas, our number 1 priority was finding good Christian friends. We knew how important friendship would be for us. We found a great church and a great lifegroup to join right away. They even had a Bible studies that we could join right away. I want to state at this point that I love this group of girls very much. They are all very nice friendly, welcoming, and honestly I've never met a group that is so good about never talking bad about people or saying anything bad behind anyone's back. I respect them all so much. But I've never had a harder time trying to fit in, or find people to really connect with. I have been part of this group for about 9 months now, and I am just now starting to feel comfortable calling some of these girls on the phone. Although they've always invited me to things and make me feel welcome, most of them have been such good friends for so long that I feel like they don't have room for any more good friends.

Not having a good friend here in Texas has been hard on me. During the fall semester there were so many times when I'd had a hard day at work (everyday) I wished that I'd had a friend that I could have just stopped over and talked about my day. I know in Iowa I did that a lot with Sarah, and Lindsay, and I did that every day in college with Kirstie, and Megan everyday my senior year.

I have been praying about this matter for some time, and I know that God will bring me more friends, and will create some very close friends for me, but for now I need to pray for the patience to wait for that time.