Friends

My understanding of friendship has changed a lot over the years. You know how there are those who have a million friends and then others who have just a few close friendships? I've definitely always been in that latter category. Friendships take a lot of time and intentionality, and I am generally slow to open up to others. I love my friends that I've known forever dearly and treasure all those years growing up together, changing together. But as I've gotten older, I've also realized that I don't need to know someone forever in order for them to be a close friend. Sometimes, God places people right in front of you, and you just hit it off right away. 

There are friends from all stages of life that I still keep in touch with. Friends who I met the first day of Kindergarten. Friends who I spent nearly every day of the week with in Junior High. Friends who I danced with almost every day for 7 years. Friends that I've lived with, studied with, had hundreds of coffee dates with. Friends who have witnessed evidences of God's grace in my life. Friends that I haven't talked to in months but that will pick up right where we left off when we do talk. Friends who I lived in the same city for less than a year. And friends who have never lived in the same place. 

I've been MIA this week, hanging out with my friend Amy and her precious little girl Ella while her husband was out of town for a conference. Amy and I met last fall in Seattle. She and her husband were there for some interviews, and Matt and I spent that weekend giving them a tour of the city and connecting far beyond what I ever would have imagined! I joke to Matt that she is my "long lost friend" since we enjoy each other so much and keep in touch after spending only 2 days together last fall. I'm so blessed by this lady the Lord put in my life! Now we live just a couple states away. I'm looking forward to more visits in the future :).

Here's a glimpse of the fun we had playing around and going to the Nashville Zoo!

Amy, I had so much fun with you and Ella the past couple of days! I can't wait for our little ones to meet!

Apart from Jesus, I am an awful friend. I forget to call. I get jealous. I forget birthdays. I'm impatient, selfish, and not totally transparent. I love imperfectly. But God forgives me, blesses me with dear friends, and has given me gifts like being a good listener and encourager! I'll leave you with a passage from Colossians that is on my heart today.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17

+, Lauren Aiken