Here All Along

One hundred six: I'm hoping I can say this right. Please forgive me where I fumble.

Earlier today, I spoke with a friend and told her I would pray for her. I prayed right then because I didn't want to forget. As I was praying, I thought of another friend I heard from yesterday and remembered I had told her the same thing. So I asked God to bless her too. Several other friends came to mind, each had shared things and I had offered prayer because I knew it was one sure way that I could help (when I felt like I couldn't help). I spent some time in prayer today. Keeping my word. Loving my friends.

And then I realized how blessed I am to have friends. So many friends. Friends who love me enough to listen to my trials and share theirs too. Friends who cry with me over my hurts and theirs. Friends who tell me when the good things happen and call me about the exciting stuff. Friends who help me see when I am too sarcastic or even rude. I have real friends.

Why mention this here? Well, I tend to consider myself an outsider. Watching other people bond and make best friends while I remain more of an acquaintance. Yeah, I've had friendship, pretty good friendships even, but I guess I felt they paled in comparison to other people's or even those friend's friendships with others. I think I'm wrong. Maybe I've been wrong all along. These friends I was thinking of aren't new. They've been here for a while. No, they aren't all nearby and we don't get to go out together or even visit in person nearly enough, but we do make time to connect (and reconnect when we let too much time pass). Sometimes its just by reading each other's status updates on facebook because life is busy, but we comment on them and pray for each other through them. I know that may sound a little lame, but it works.

Thank you, God, for my friends. Thank you for hearing my prayers and helping me to find real friends. Thank you for opening my eyes to see they've been right here all along.


What's this about? I decided on my birthday to make a commitment to being intentionally thankful. I challenged myself to post one thing I am thankful for everyday this year.