Hey friend! It’s me! How are you?
Do you have friends that you haven’t talked to or seen in a while, but when you get together (phone, facetime, in-person), it’s like no time at all has passed? These friendships hold a special place in my heart, because they remind me that distance, time, and life don’t have to stop something so special. You can be friends and not talk every day. You can be friends that catch up every six months. You can be friends that don’t see each other for years, but you still think about and pray for frequently.
Before I met my squad, I had (and still do) have a tribe of friends that I met in college. These are my people, too. They have helped support me through hard times. We were there for each other’s weddings. Before covid changed everyone’s plans, we were there to meet each other’s children. These friends I hold onto tightly, because time and distance have tried to steal the joy each of these ladies bring to my life. They were there for the crazy college times, the long nights of studying, the trying to figure out life, the budgeting of meals, the boys that came and went, and they were the roommates that saw me at my best and worst. And, because this group of friends know more about me than I’m willing to share. Haha!!
Life gets so busy and chaotic at times that it’s easy to say, “Well, we haven’t talked in so long, she probably doesn’t even care.” We sometimes put off reaching out for fear that they are just as busy as we are and won’t have time to catch up. And then sometimes, we just forget and before we know it 6 months have gone by.
But, what if we said, “No, this means too much to me and even though we haven’t talked in a while, I’m going to call and see how she is.” What if we reached out and said, “I know it’s been a long time since we talked, but how are you? I’ve got 20 minutes, fill me in.”
And then, there are friends that come and go. Sometimes we have friends that come into our lives for a short amount of time or during a difficult season. Life happens, things change and priorities shift. I had some great friends that I lost touch with after college, weddings and babies. This doesn’t mean that I have forgotten about how dear they were to me during those times, but life took us in different directions and that’s okay too.
No matter if you have friends that you’ve known since you were a baby, school, college or you didn’t meet until adulthood, they have all shaped you into the friend you are today. And you did the same for them. Leaning on each other, supporting each other, encouraging each other and making time for each other is a great privilege that we can share for a season, years or a lifetime.
May this be a reminder to you to cherish those friends that have come and gone, reach out to those who you can catch up with like no time has passed, and hold onto those that are closest to you at this time. We can all be a friend, because God knows we need a friend or two.
