Something Like That

I originally created this blog *in addition to my other two* for a place to write and express myself.  I hadn't done it in so long, that I felt as though I had lost a little piece of myself.  I really began writing back in the early 90s as I entered high school.  I didn't enjoy high school *sorry alumni that may be reading this*.  It was awful tolerable on most days.  I enjoyed being around the teachers who seemed to 'get me.'  Maybe that's why I was voted teacher's pet my senior year in high school.  At any rate, I think at my age, I'd gladly say that I was a teacher's pet.  Not because I brown-nosed spent a lot of time trying to get them to do things for me, but because of the emotional boost I received from them on a daily basis.  I also had a close group of friends those last couple of high school years and somehow...out of all of us...there are only two or three of us that still communicate.  Life has taken us in all directions.

So, when all else failed and I really needed someone to hear me, I would write.  Oftentimes, my writing was more of a prayer...begging God to hear me.  Even now, I'm begging him to hear me.  "Please God...please...heal my broken heart!"  "Not yet.  Not yet my child."  I'm sure he's polishing my heart.  He has a cloth that is slightly abrasive, but soft all at the same time.  He's running it over and over my heart.  Most days, it feels more abrasive than soft, but there are those other days where I feel the softness of the cloth, soothing my soul.

I've often said that we all have friendships, a circle of friends, much like Jesus did.  You have your acquaintances, the people you know by name, but they're not people who you share every morsel of your life with.  Then there are friends that you spend a lot of time with, but you still don't share every detail of your life with them.  We're getting closer here.  Just outside the inner circle are some special friends.  They may know quite a bit about your life, but you may hold on to a few pieces of yourself.  And well...then there's this inner circle.  It's a few select friends that know you down to the dirty stuff.  They may even know you well enough to know what your mood is without even asking.

And well...it gets to be a bit like this:

I have been really blessed with friends.  I'd say that I have quite a few between the 'special' circle and that inner circle.

I also believe that we have friends in seasons.  Those close friends I spoke of that I had in high school?  That was a season.  Some friends come and camp out in the season called life.  Some come and go.  Others come in later in life and camp out in life.  And even more still, were there when you were young...seemingly 'vanished' and then just as suddenly as they 'vanished'...they reappear in a more supportive role.

In all of this, I have been shown what tremendous friendships I have.  I have friends who are willing to drop into the mud with me.  After listening to the UT commencement speech for 2014, these are just a couple of things I learned about friends *may be my own wording*:

1. Find people to help you paddle.  When you're in the boat, struggling through the waves of life, you need friends who won't quit paddling with you.
2. All it takes is the hope of one person.  Just one person.  When you're up to your neck in mud and life just seems far too overwhelming...start singing.  Before you know it, others will join in...loving you through it, making life more bearable.
3. It's not the size of your flippers, but the size of your heart *more his words*.  You need to respect everyone.

There were others, but those pertain to life...and life with friends.  And when I'm afraid to call out to my friends...I write...and I call out to God.