And they are friendships that never change, regardless of the time or distance that has kept you apart.
I've known my friend Maddie since we were 3 years old, and we've shared a countless amount of memories together. We've watched our brothers play soccer together; we've played on our own soccer teams together; we've chased my mom around the softball field with full water bottles after she coached us to the championship; we ate lunch together every single day in fifth grade—and she had a baked potato every single day; we've climbed trees together; we've shared "car talk" in my mom's big red Suburban every day of freshman year of high school; more than once she's let me take over her camera for the night, knowing she's end up with way more snapshots than she expected; we've been in a multiple-car wreck together; we were baptized together; we've gone prom dress shopping together—the poor girl had to put up with me, knowing I hated shopping and the idea of prom; we've caused trouble (not really) together on the Texas A&M campus; we've texted "I can see you" pictures to each other from across the arena at convocation (we teach in the same school district); we've regularly sent each other cloud pictures, because we know how much we both appreciate those water droplets and solid ice crystals floating in the sky; and, simply put, we've grown up together.
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| It makes sense |
So much about us has changed, yet our friendship hasn't.
When you're an adult, life can get pretty chaotic, and you don't always get to do the things you want—like hang out with all of your friends on a regular basis. But, one thing I've always believed about genuine friendships is that they are able to pick up where they left off like nothing has changed at all.
My friendship with Maddie is just like that. We don't always get to see each other as much as we'd like, but we make it a point to get together when we can. After all, you make time for the things you want in life. Whenever we hang out, it's as if we were teenagers again in the back of my mom's red Suburban, talking about whatever was on our minds. Granted, now our conversations are about things that are probably more significant, but we still have that same childish innocence in our friendship that we had when we were in elementary school seeing how far we could go on the monkey bars. Some friends, like Maddie, may change a little in appearance or maturity but never change the special places they hold in your heart.
And they always know how to make you smile when you need it most.
I had a pretty stressful week last week and an even worse start to my weekend. But I forgot all about it late yesterday afternoon when Maddie drove out of her way to pick me up and go for a walk with me in the post-rain beautiful weather.
The comfort of her friendship was just the reminder I needed of things that truly matter in this world.
As walked and chatted and forgot about so many stresses in life that ultimately don't hold much weight in our lives, I found myself being so thankful for a friend who quoted random movies with me throughout the afternoon, called me strange when I started acting like I had a dorsal fin when we were crossing the street, then said, "And you're perfectly OK with it."
And, even better, so is she.
I know Maddie will be my friend no matter what. She knows that I am kind of strange and a bit quirky at times, but she doesn't care. Because she cares about me.
These special friendships I truly believe are gifts from God, because they are just like him. They are always there and don't change. They are lasting and loving. They are truly unshakeable.
He always makes time for me, and I know I need to do the same. After all, you make time for the things you want in life.
And His is a friendship that is beyond unshakeable.
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