To My Friends, Thanks!

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This was originally posted on 5/22/2008

The few who actually read my blog will note, it has been some time since I have posted. I have actually written several in the interim, but I have chosen to keep them to myself, as the content was personal. But in the course of doing so, I did finally stumble on to a topic to write about which means a lot to me. FRIENDS. Specifically, a brief thank you note to all of my friends.

Those who know me will understand how important, how near and dear to my heart, and how deeply I value the friendships I have made over the 40 years of my life. I do not refer to the traditional definition of friends, but rather my deeper definition of the word. The one described in my favorite Bible verse, John 15:13. "A greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." That kind of friendship transcends time, distance, and mere definition.

When I had to deal with the divorce of my parents, and all the turmoil of having my family ripped apart from the inside, I built a wall around myself, in an effort to protect myself from the pain of it all. I coped by finding friends who would always be there for me, no matter what. No, these kind of friends were not easy to find, but God truly has blessed me with a number of them through the years, and they have truly been the foundation of my life.

Some have been a part of my life for nearly 30 years, some have been a part of it for a much shorter time, and I am blessed to be married to my best friend. Yet ALL of them have given me so much strength, love, understanding, wisdom and fellowship, that it would take an ocean (or more) to hold it all.

For years I have valued those friendships and enjoyed the fellowship, without ever having needed the strength of having so many wonderful friends, or having a friend in need of any real strength, love, understanding or wisdom. But over the past few years, life has brought about a few situations where both sides of the equation have been important.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on how important all of my friends are in my life, they are as important as the air I breathe, the heartbeats which keep me alive, and the biological processes which make it all work.

I hope I have been a worthy friend to all, and I wish to say "Thank You" from the whole of my heart to all of you. I feel as though no matter what obstacles I may face in life, I have a foundation which can stand up to it all. This has been a short thank you blog, but I just wanted to say "THANKS!"

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