"A friend loves at all times..."
I KNOW!! ... an actual blog posting, where have I been and why so long with no post right? Sorry... it's been a crazy time but today I just couldn't get a topic that God clearly laid on my heart off it until I got up out of my comfy bed and began to write this blog post.
So yesterday I was in one of my bored moments from being down from some surgery (yes I'm fine... just taking time to heal) and went on FB. That's what we do isn't it? When we can't be out living life we go on our social media sites and we live life through those that are actually out there living. I saw all the posts of what my FB family was up to and smiled as I looked through pics and saw posts of good times. I frowned and even cried at some pics and posts that showed what some were "living" that aren't their happier moments right now. But regardless of good or bad times... most of the FB friends on my list were still living. Then it hit me, some of my friends on my friend list aren't with us anymore. I don't know about you but that's always a tough one for me... what do you do? Unfriend them? They are still friends, a friend loves at ALL times. Seems so horrible to "unfriend" but the truth is... they aren't here anymore to get our status updates or our pictures of the good and bad living and my guess is that they really aren't missing the posts all that much as they live out their eternity outside of their earthly home. It's a reality and it's not an easy one to have to face because I am one of the few that actually know and have met just about every single person that I'm "friends" with on FB except for some family members that I will one day meet, promise!
I began going through my list of friends and spent time looking at each and every one and thinking back to the time I met them or what my memories were of them. With some I don't recall much, maybe someone from High School or from a past job that I may not have known all that well but it's been really neat to see how their life is going and how they are living out their dreams. With others, there are a ton of memories and there are even those friends on FB that I have more memories than could ever be documented because of how connected we have remained over the course of life. WE LIVED and are LIVING life both good and bad and have those precious memories of one another to cherish. I happen to be a girl who has some of the most amazing friends in the world and that is NOT an exaggeration.
As I went through the list intent of making it a smaller one because I could not possibly have that many people in my life, I managed to "unfriend" quite a few because of personal reasons, wishing them nothing but great things in life but just don't feel they need to be included in my world, in my life being lived. What I was fascinated by was how many are active people in my life. I mean we see each other by either hanging out, attending church or Emmaus functions, working together, etc. And family, who can forget family? I happen to have one crazy messed up group of folks to call family and I LOVE IT! Because I am just as crazy and messed up as they are and they love me for who I am just as I love them.
I continued down the list of friends recounting memories or wondering what must this person think of me as they knew me when... fill in the blank. Or have I been the best friend I could have been to this person? Was I kind? Have I let them know they matter and that they have left an unforgettable imprint on my heart and my life? Without each and every person on that friend list... I would not be who I am today. I have been connected in some way to those on "my list". There are some on my friend list (outside of family) that I have known for close to 40 years. They have seen me change, evolve and hopefully grow into a better person. They have loved me as their friend through ALL times and I have loved them. The outgoing, outspoken, jump in there and never meet a stranger woman you see today is because of those friends and the imprint they left there. In High School I wasn't outgoing, I wasn't outspoken and I certainly knew many strangers because I would have rather blended in to the walls around me then have to look up into the eyes of some of my classmates. But my classmates who were friends... they wouldn't let me. We laughed together, cried together, experienced heart ache together, disliked some of the same people, liked some of the same boys (I will never tell) and got each other through the perils of some tough classes. I see them on my friend list and I smile because they now have families and lives and we are still connected. I don't believe a single person on "my list" is on there by accident but by divine intervention. I know some of my friends have and will always think my Christian faith is nonsense and I still pray for them just as the day I met them. :) I also have those friends who share my faith and are some of the first I turn to when I need a friend to pray with me and help me get through something I don't understand because they share a little bit of their faith when mine grows weary.
I'm glad to be connected to so many friends on FB but I'm even more glad to have friends that love me at all times and not just my good ones. I am thankful that I have friends who know my faults, who know I mess up and who know my life and they still choose to let me be on their "friend list". My plan is to reconnect after my time of healing and catch up with some of you.
This blog post was about remaining connected and appreciating friends who love at all times even times when we don't see one another or get to chat or talk. I wanted to take a moment and let you know, if you are on my FB friend list... I thought about you this week, not just a fleeting moment but I thought about you, how I met you, if we have any memories that we have shared and how you have impacted my life or I could have impacted yours. I took time this week to pray for each of you on "my list" and thanked God for you and the imprint you left on my life.
Has any friend come to your mind lately that you haven't seen or talked to for a while? Is there a friend that could use a moment of your time to reconnect? Is it time to do a "friend list" cleanup? Is it time to learn to be a friend? WE all have a friend in Jesus and he taught us how to be a friend to one another through unconditional love and a whole heaping of grace and forgiveness.
Til next post, friend....
Under His Wings,
Heather
