Friendships [31 Things I Know]

This I know...

FRIENDSHIPS

...are necessary.

I was already thinking about this all day, but I just saw my friend post on Facebook "Do men know that if we didn't regularly get out and have a girl's night...we'd die." I couldn't agree more. I love my husband, and I love my kids, but there is a special place in my heart for sitting down with a friend and doing absolutely nothing but chatting. Preferably about everything and nothing. Preferably until the wee hours of the night. Preferably about the shallow as well as about the deep. Preferably with lots of laughing and some crying too.

I've had a few best friends over the years and I have a secret. Follow me for a second---

KAYLA: My first best friend was my next door neighbor when I was 5. We'd get in fights over who was Ariel in the pool. Those were the days. We lost touch when I moved away---that was before cell phones, txting, internet and facebook.

RYAN: She was my best friend from school 2nd-4th grade. We were total BFF's. Matching iron-on sweatshirts, and raising our farm animals together. Literally. Yep, rabbits. We had all our own sayings and enough inside jokes to still keep us crying laughing. Thankfully, we didn't lose touch. Thank you facebook.


COURTNEY: We met in 5th grade after I'd moved again. We met in class, and were inseparable. Courtney and Candi, Candi and Courtney. [Yes, I use to go by what some would call a "stripper" name. Again, that's for another post.] She and I had some wild-oat-sowing days for about 3 years until I moved again. Boy are we different now than we were then. Let's all just say together in unison "Thank You Jesus." These days we stay in touch over our similar loves, hobbies and lifestyles. Stay at home mommies all the way!

BEKAH: We met in 8th grade, after...you guessed it...we moved again. She & I probably spent more time together in 8th and 9th grade than any other best friend I'd had up until this point. I think I lived with her Friday-Sunday most of the year. I was basically her families 4th daughter. We were an unlikely match, but our love for Jesus, seagulls, bee's, and boys kept us together. Recently we saw each other again for the first time since---9th grade. It was pretty awesome. She still makes me laugh---a lot. She turned out even better than I knew she would.

SARAH: Around the same time as Bekah, I had a friend I saw regularly at youth group. She was like an older sister to me. I really looked up to her and her walk with God. I spent a lot of time with her doing "the youth group thing"---you know---like burning secular Cd's in church bonfires. Oh dear. Yep, I did that. She still has an amazing laugh. She's real, and I wish we lived closer. 

MICAH: Guess what? I moved...again. This time from Texas to Georgia. I met Micah at youth group and we were friends throughout high school. I didn't see her as much because she was homeschooled, but she showed me some pretty amazing things---like---Francine Rivers [why I finally started to read] and Jennifer Knapp. Which ended up leading me to more Christian music. For years we took trips together, mission trips even, and lots of concerts. She was my beautiful freckled face friend. We lost touch after college started, but I hope that changes one day.


The Ya Ya's: Something happen near the end of high school---4 of us from youth group got together and decided we were going to blow up that summer like a scene out of Now & Then. It's hard for me to listen to any music from the summer 2002 and not think of my "ya ya sisters": Bethany, Johanna and Micah. When I think of these gals, I think of staying up till 5 am all summer, cruising around listening to awesome mix Cd's and making a list of "firsts". Who will be first to get married, who will have kids first, blah blah blah. I'm still waiting for any prizes I might be due. Just say'in. 

APRIL: Ever have an enemy turn into your doula? or maid of honor? or aunt to your child? Well. I have. My first college roommate didn't start off loving me too much, but over the years has became one of my closest friends. We are: CanApril. We share a love for owls [college mascot], chai tea, and Rainbow flip flops. She has been there for me for almost 10 years, at my wedding, the birth of my children, and lots and lots and lots of phone calls since. Like all my best friends, we never seem to live in the same state. She's in NC now. Pfff, she went and got married and knocked up---so selfish of her!

SARAH: Finally a friend in the same state, well heck, even almost the same zip code. I can't begin to describe to you the amount of words the two of us have exchanged. And what I mean by that is...we both LOVE to talk. We've been pregnant three times together, and by that I mean---three of our kids are only weeks apart. I met her at a church we went to shortly after Charles and I got married. I don't really remember how it happen, but I believe a love for scrapbooking that pulled us together. That, or, any excuse to get out of our houses and go talk. She's very wise, a true friend, keeps it real, and has been there for me through a lot. She and I enjoy doing a lot of the same things, and share a lot of the same views. This makes hanging out and picking restaurants very easy. She makes me laugh, and for that alone, I am the sane woman I am today. 

So, my jewel, my tip, my word of wisdom----find a good friend. Be a good friend. Keep a good friend. I still talk to almost all these ladies regularly. Why? Because I value female relationships. Especially those that last a long time. Yes sometimes you annoy each other, and yes sometimes they do stupid or hurtful things, and yes sometimes you don't live close enough---but at the end of the day, it's better to have their friendship that not. Being friendless is worse to me than having imperfect friends. So...


If you don't have one---pray for one. If you have one---nurture it. What's your best friend's love language? Bless her today. Thank her. Make her laugh. Buy her something. If I know one thing, it's that without these women in my life---I would not be the woman I am today. They have been there for me through some hard times. For sure. But even beside that, they fill a void I think only mindless endless laughing female chatter can. It's beautiful. Chatting with any of these ladies for hours, makes me walk away feeling completely refreshed.

Our lives can be draining, go, be refreshed. Or refresh someone.

[This sounds like a Sprite commercial now.]

The End.

***Due to my extreme lack of actually putting fingers to keys and writing lately, I've decided to give myself a 31 day writers block topic...31 days of things I know. This will be 31 posts of random things I know. It may or may not be helpful. It may or may not make you laugh. It may or may not be things you already know. It may or may not be things you're wondering why I even bothered writing about. It may or may not be worth the 5 minutes I type these posts...regardless...I think it will be good for me to just reflect and write. So, I say all this to say, I hope you laugh, learn, and maybe even roll your eyes a little. Please Jesus, just don't fall asleep.***