Day 3: Friendships

Saying that I am thankful for all my friendships, both near and far, is an understatement. My friendships are one of the biggest blessings in my life. The other night the boys were trick or treating and, as we walked down the road, I looked to the left to see a good friend and looked to the right to see another good friend. We spent the hour laughing, watching our boys make memories and pouring out our hearts to each other about parenting while our boys brought in the motherlode of candy. Last night, after a day of photo shoots, I met up with a couple good friends for dinner. One friend announced that she was pregnant (surprise!) and one talked to us about her health issues. I drove away from the restaurant, thankful for my friends and the different phases of our life. Right before I went to bed last night I got a text from a newer friend in life, wanting to tell me that her husband wants to reconcile and work to save their marriage. (yay!)
As an adult, making friends has been more difficult for me. When I walk into a room of people I become a wallflower. I don't feel comfortable approaching a stranger to introduce myself. But when God does bring people into my life as a new friend I cherish those friendships. I appreciate how each friend brings something different to my life. I have friendships in life that started as children. I have friendships that began in college. And I have friendships that have begun in the workplace. Sadly, I have had good friends come and go in life as well. But the ones who have stuck around amaze me.
I have some good friends in California, Nevada and Louisiana. I can go years without seeing a friend and when we do see each other we pick up right where we left off. One of my dearest friends in life and I only see each other every few years at best. The last time we got together we took a girls' roadtrip to the beach. That was one of the best weekends of my life! We caught up on life. We cried over heartache. We reminisced about our college days together. And we laughed until our stomach hurt and we had tears rolling down our cheeks. It's times like that I don't take for granted.
But I also don’t take for granted when my friend opens up about her depression or her heartache or her marital problems or her parenting issues. Because I know my friend trusts me to share those things that are heavy on her heart. I also know that I can celebrate with her when life starts looking up again.
There is a saying that I am sure you've heard that says, "As we go through life, we start to understand that it's not important to have a lot of friends. What truly matters is that we have real friends." I am blessed to say that I have a lot of real friends and I am forever thankful for each and every one of them!