The Blessing of Friendship

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up." ~ Eccl 4:9-10

I have been given a deeper appreciation of my friends lately. Maybe it was Christmas cards from friends that were once close, but have moved on, maybe it was joining Facebook and getting touch with friends that I haven't seen since high school, maybe it is my love of reading blogs of friends that I have never actually met, but whatever the reason I am realizing how rich they have made my life.

I am an introvert by nature, so spending a lot of time with people is not a high need for me. Sometimes I think that I can trudge along on my own pretty well. Friends just make life so much sweeter. They are there to lift me up when I fall. They are there to remind me of my falls when I get a little too high on my horse. They are there to make me laugh until I cry about stupid things we have done. They are there to help me think through the big decisions in life, like should we adopt a child from a foreign country, or should I really buy these shoes for $165.

I have always lived in rural areas, where it is easy to just hide out. There aren't people everywhere, and most of us understand keeping our "personal space." As I get older I realize how nice it is to have people next door that leave their snow shovels in front of my garage door, because they forgot it after shoveling my driveway. Or having the neighbor boys just walk in without knocking and come find me in the kitchen because they know we have snacks right after school.

All of these things have helped me to keep my life in perspective. When I am feeling blue I can read a friend's blog and hear about how people are suffering in Haiti, and how that friend is serving them. I can read about my friend that is adjusting to life with four new children in her home. When I need to get out of myself I can call a friend and offer to watch her kids so she can go have coffee with her husband, or meet with a friend, or go to another child's game, or whatever. Sometimes all of this creates messes in my life, but I don't have to clean it up alone. I have had lots of rough patches with my friends, but it has ALL worked itself out, and we are closer now than we were before. I was picking up one of my kids at a friend's house last week and we were talking about our systems for returning items that get left at each other's homes. She pointed out how this illustrated the connectedness of our lives, I thought that is so true, I can't leave my socks at a stranger's house. I guess the fact that I am almost out of socks means I have a lot of friends. Either that or it is still winter and this summer it will be flip flops.

Here is a big hug to all of my friends that read this blog. You have made me a better person, and I am grateful for your friendship.