Bethiepoo03

Love

I have been thinking a lot recently about love.
I have been thinking about the love that is displayed in
frienships and the love that has been displayed to me in
the example that my father has set for me as I was growing
up. I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have
love.
God has blessed me with frienships. I have read and heard
in numerous places that if a person has 5 true friends in
their lifetime, they are to be truly lucky. I have those
5 true friends. Granted, there are always the people who
come into our lives and then then gradually (or maybe
rapidly... circumstances are always different) they fade
back out again. It is a sad thing when that happens, but
it's part of life, and I have been discovering that as
that happens, I have been realizing that other people fade
into the picture so gradually you don't even notice that
they are there until it's a full blossoming friendship.
Some of the people that I was close to in high school I
always thought would be there in my life now. I thought
that the frienships that I had in high school were so
tight, but there is something that I have been realizing
as I have been watching those people fade out of my life,
and mourning a little in the process....those friendships
weren't built on all that much other than comman
interests. The friends that I was the closest to in high
school never even went to my high school. There are three
friends from my high school years that I can safely say I
will always continue to stay in contact with : My best guy
friend who has lived down the street from me our whole
lives. He and I grew up in school together, and we go to
the same church (which by the way I was introduced to
because of him). He also happens to be an ex boyfriend
but (lol) a word of advice : it doesn't work trying to
kiss someone who is like a brother to you ::internal
shudder::
The other person is a friend of mine from my church. She
happens to be a great deal younger than me, but she and I
have been discovering that we have so much to teach each
other. We have been talking about life as I experience
it,and as she experiences it. There may be things
happening at different levels in our lives, but the same
biblical principles apply to all the areas of our lives.
It is our relationship with God that has allowed us to hve
this tight bond. We are sisters not only in our
friendship but in Christ. We pray together and for each
other and we love each other enough to point out things
that need work when they come our way.
The third person that I am confident I will always have
contact with is my soul sister. Our frienship spans
beyond any sort of earthly friendship and takes itself
into the deep heart of creation. we joke about the fact
that we are two parts of the same soul and when we come
together we are complete. We have shared so much, and we
have helped each other through so much. When I was
swimming in my own muck, she reached down and pulled me
out, and when the darkness was so heavy in her heart I was
the voice that searched her out and brought her back to
safety. She is at college as well, and we rarely have the
privelege of talking with each other, but we will always
be there for each other. If ever she needs anything, I
would fly to the ends of the earth to give it to her. I
am safe in the knowledge that even though we don't get to
see each other all that much, and we don't get to talk on
the phone as much as we would like, we still love each
other.
The one other person that I'm sure I'll always know is my
friend whom I have known for seemingly ever. We met one
day when we were both home sick from school (actually we
argue about when we met :) but we have always been
friends. We both coped with switching schools and making
variuos transitions in our lives but we were there for
each other, and now we have seemed to be spending much
more time together when we are both home from school on
break
There are other friends that I made in high school, and I
love them all. Part of the love process is letting them
go to their areas of life. We hang out once in a while
and we chat occasionally, but it is not the same.

The frienships that I'm making here at school I'm
absolutely confident about the fact taht they will always
be there. My dad always told me that he doesn't really
talk all that much with his friends from high school, but
he does have those connections with his college friends.
I'm involved in a Christian group on campus and we are a
tight group of friends. I may be different than other
collge kids because our bond is not based on the fact that
we party together. our bond is centered around the fact
that we encourage and build up each others spiritual
growth and we do lots of stuff together. We all hang out
together because we also have so much in common.
One of the peopel in the group also happens to be my RA
and such a wonderful friendship has flourished between
us...it's wonderful. We stay up until the wee hours of
the morning discussing so many things, and I am confident
that our frienship will span the test of time.

there is so much more, but I'm late for something so I'll
continue next time.

but the way it all ties together is because those frienships are
based on love. that is the whole point. they are not solely based
on common interests, althought that's part of it, they are also
based on sacrifice and devotion.

beth