Friends are hard to come by...

When I was a little girl my parents were pastors and in full time ministry, and have been all my life. I was the youngest of three girls (at the time). I didn’t have any close friends besides my sisters when I was growing up. I had friends but none that were close to me. I would try and hang out with my sisters’ friends but I think you know how that went. But, I did have this one great friend. We were kindred spirits. We would climb trees all day. We hunted pirates in the wood and searched for bears. We loved racing our bikes around the neighborhood. We lived in a castle (my attic) and ruled the kingdom. Cops and robbers was a favorite of ours too. We always had the greatest adventures and we could talk for hours, about nothing most the time. We knew each other very well and we promised to always be best of friends. Now you may have already guessed but this friend was my imagination. But for some reason I’ve been thinking back to this time in my life a lot lately. They were moments I will always treasure.

As I’ve been contemplating these memories I sit and wonder who that friend really was. I don’t mean to turn this into an overly spiritual story but there are times that I wonder if it was my imagination or if it was Jesus being my friend. I remember a story that I heard a while ago that makes me think in these terms. There was this couple who had a little girl and a little boy. The little boy had just been born and the parents had brought him back to their home. The little girl was a little toddler and asked her parents if she could have a moment with her new baby brother in his nursery. The parents were a little reluctant cause they didn’t know why she wanted time alone with him. But, they decided to give her what she asked for. They left the little girl in with her brother but they took the baby monitor just incase. So as the parents we listening in on the little girls conversations they heard their daughter ask their son, ”Tell me what Jesus is like….’cause I forgot.”

I wonder if those times climbing trees and hunting bears and going on great adventure, if my friend was really Jesus playing with me. I wonder if He was letting me know that He would never leave me. I know I don’t have evidence that it was Him but I have something in my heart that makes me think it was. I have missed having a friend that cared about every little thing in my life. I miss having those heart to heart conversations and those conversations about nothing. I know friends; true Friends are hard to come by. But, my heart is telling me I never lost my first real friend and it was Him.

Good Bye...

Anna's leaving tomorrow...aka...today. I'm so glad she's going and doing something that is fulfilling but I'm not going to lie, I'll miss her like crazy. I guess I'm going to have to depend on friends more than usual. It's so weird. this is going to be the first time that I've been completely on my own. I've always had family around but, I'm going to see what it's like with out that. I will say I'm looking forward to going to Detroit tomorrow. I'll be in a big city which I've missed (Grand Rapids is not considered a big city in my book) and I get to see a really good friend too. It will be a good day.