OK…So I know the title of this post sounds a little cheesy and you are probably thinking "oh boy…now what?" Well before you start thinking about how many times you have hear that song (Friends Are Friends Forever), just know that at the end of this post, I am going to bless your life with a really funny spoof article on the song from The Lark News Site…Trust me…it’s funny.
I woke up thinking about the friends in my life and that sometimes my life feels like an episode right out of the tv show Friends …without Jennifer Aniston of course…bummer… I’ve got a few very very close friends and a few that I know will be closer friends over time. When I think about the friends I have in my life, I think about what it means to ‘love unconditionally’ or ‘to love without condition’. Sure I have family that love me unconditionally and I’m thankful to know that they do love me no matter what. I also know that I’m not the greatest in keeping in contact with some family and some friends. It doesn’t mean I love them any less, it’s just the way it is. But I think what amazes me even more is the moment in which you actually know that you have friends that truly love you and care about you and you know that no matter what, they will always be there for you. My family is like that too…but it’s because we have a strong friendship.
I have a friend I swim with and we usually get our time together over a meal after practice. That’s our time together. I have other friends I have coffee with and that’s our time together. A couple of friends I travel with, some I work with, and some I check in with once a month or so. Then there’s those I see almost everyday or at least once a week. When I think about all of these people, I can’t help but to thankful to share life with them.
That leads me to this thought. I have a lot of married friends. Most of which are great examples of what being married should be. Some of my married friends….well…not so much. Here is the biggest thing I see when looking at my married friends that seem to really have it together. First and foremost…they are friends and they truly are each others best friend. It really thrills me to be out with another married couple and watch them interact with each other in a way where you know…these two are really loving life together and have the strongest friendship and relationship I’ve ever seen. Second is this…and this is where in my mind life is so important. The married couples I see that have strong relationships because they are best friends have other friends in their life. Did you read that closely? They have other friends in their life. Sounds like a simple thought right? But if you are married, then you know what I’m talking about.
If you don’t take the time to grow relationships outside your marriage that are healthy, then I think, you are missing one of the best parts of living life. Friends help each other through stressful married times, they also help sweeten a married couples life. I don’t maybe i’m rambling a bit…i wish i could put this all into words that really make more sense.
I believe in the power of friendship and the what they add to lives everyday.
So I will leave you with this question. What kind of friendships do you have in your life and how do you maintain them? At the end of the day…do you love them and do they love you…without condition.
Here’s the spoof article in the continuation below…
Friends not friends forever, even if the Lord’s the Lord of them, former pals say
SALEM, Mass. — Two former "best buddies" from
Saratoga Nazarene Church say they learned the hard way that a lifetime is too
long to live as friends, despite the claims of a popular Christian song.
Theresa and Dalia, both 13, became best friends the day they
met in third grade. They soon realized they were the only serious Christians in
the school, and both had major crushes on Michael W. Smith.
"We used to bounce on my bed using hairbrushes as microphones
and singing ‘Friends’ to each other," says Theresa. "I’d sing Amy Grant’s
part and she’d sing Michael W. Smith’s part. Then we’d laugh and roll around.
We knew our friendship was forever, like the song said."
But at the end of eighth grade, things hit a rough patch. Dalia
quit wearing her Amy Grant Hearts in Motion Concert Tour T-shirt to school on
Fridays, as she and Theresa had done for years.
"That felt like betrayal," Theresa said. "I
was totally alone."
Then both girls developed a crush on the same boy, Brad Loudermilk,
the only decent-looking Christian in the school. Out of spite, Dalia switched
her crush to a non-Christian guy, and the friendship with Theresa was effectively
severed.
Theresa went home after school and ripped the Michael W. Smith
poster from her wall, then crumpled onto her bed and sobbed.
"I guess friends will say never and the welcome does end,"
she said bitterly. •
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