Ode to Friends

As I reflect on each blessing God has given to me, I have found myself overwhelmed at each gift of a friend He has placed in my life. I cannot even begin to articulate how blessed I am or how blessed I feel. My prayer as a little girl each day was to have friends because as a child, living in Toronto from the age of five to eleven, I felt very much alone. I was the girl the other kids laughed at. I was the girl who walked around the school yard by herself at recess. I was sad and I was lonely.

As a pre-teen, I found friends. I learned what it was like to be in the popular crowd. It was fun to be included, but it came with pressures, and I slowly realized I did not have a place in that crowd. But what a blessing that time was. I learned so many valuable lessons and I am thankful for the people that were in my life at that time.

Just before I reached the age of thirteen, I really struggled with life. Putting it lightly, I was depressed and hurting myself. But the Lord put amazing friends – true friends – in my life. I have never been the same.

I value my friends because I know what it is like to have no one. I value my friends because each one is amazing. I value my friends because I know they are real. I value my friends because they trust me and allow me to love them. I value my friends because God has shown me what a joy, gift, and blessing each one is.

My best friend’s dad told me this weekend that it is rare to have as many close friends as I do. I am still close with my friends from high school and church, while living away from home and developing new close friendships with people from university. There have certainly been difficult times, but I would not trade those times for anything.

To my Aylmer friends: Thank you for your love over the years. Thank you for fantastic memories and the new special moments we still create together. Thank you for sharing with me. Thank you for welcoming me home. Thank you for being open and sharing with me the areas of your lives that have changed. Thank you for accepting and embracing the parts of me that have changed. We have always been a special group.

To my Guelph friends (including my very dear Haliburton friend): Thank you for the past (almost) two years. Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for challenging me. Thank you for being real with me. Thank you for listening and for walking along-side of me as I figure out where God is taking me. Thank you for sharing with me and for your trust. Thank you for your constant encouragement.

To my “random” friends: Thank you. You have taught me so much and you are such a blessing. I am thankful for you and I love you.

All of my friends are amazing. Thank you. Above all thank You, Lord, for being the best friend anyone could ever have.