I'm in a Kingdom Hearts kind of mood! (It fits, I promise!)
Well here we are again mates! School is now in full swing, and I FINALLY have just the slightest bit of free time. I don't know when I'll get around to publishing this, or if I ever will, but I need to write again. There's something about it that's so fulfilling.
Life is great. I am so incredibly blessed and so happy. Don't get me wrong: great does not equal easy. Easy? hahaha! I laugh in the face of easy! It's been a tough ride, but one I wouldn't miss for the world. Life is the journey, not the destination. (Although God's made the destination worth waiting for!)
As the title implies, a LOT has changed recently. I've attempted to write blogs on these changes before, but they always come across as repetitive. Maybe someday I'll publish those when I can reword them. But today's topic is about change, and more specifically friendship.
I give to you....
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Silver and Gold: Making and Keeping Friends
I was having a conversation the other day with one of my new friends about the friends we left behind at home. We ended up talking about all sorts of things, both lighthearted and serious. As we talked I started to give my perspective on things and realized that I was quoting a song to describe how I felt about my old friends. It's from A Very Potter Sequel, and it goes something like this. I started by saying that I didn't want to say goodbye to my old friends at first, but I knew that
It's not forever, not forever no.
And even if it was, you know that I would never let it get me down
Cause you're the part of me that makes me better wherever I go.
So I will try not to cry, cause no one needs to say goodbye!
The lyrics are really true though. Over the summer, the more I thought about losing my old friends, I realized that thought in and of itself was wrong. I wasn't going to lose anyone. I was just saying "see you later!" I mean I'm coming home each summer! And I began to think that even if it was goodbye, I'd still see them in Heaven. Be that as it may, if I did have to say goodbye for now, I wouldn't be upset because I'd always have the memories that I made with them. I'd always have the ways that they made me into a better person. Even if we never saw each other again, they would always be with me.
YES I know it's corny, but it's true! Many times the truth sounds corny, but that doesn't make it less true.
Think about your friends. They make you who you are. Good or bad, friends shape who you are, even in ways you can't control. Our friends shape the way we think, the way we act, and the way we look at the world around us. That's why picking good ones is so important. No matter where we go, or what we do, we will be who we are because of the friends we have had.
As I was thinking about this, I realized too that leaving didn't mean I had to let my old friends go. There's an old saying "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Why should I give up something great if I don't have to? Often times it seems like we have to get rid of all the old to make way for the new. Granted: I haven't kept up with many of my old friends the amount I would like to, and many I have lost touch with altogether. Even so, when I go home to visit, they are all there waiting, and we pick up just where we left off. Don't let society, people around you, or even your own misconceptions about the world lie to you. You don't have to let go of old friends to make new ones. You may not keep in touch with the old as often as you'd like, and you may grow distant, but they are still your friends, and shouldn't be let go for something as trivial as time apart.
Getting ready to leave, I was realistic. While I had no intention of dropping my old friends, I knew that I would need to make new friends where I was going. I couldn't just stay in the past. God calls us to love one another as He loved us. And how does He love us? Like a hurricane: unrelenting and strong. Like a cool breeze on a summer day: soothing and gently. He loves us with a never-ending love. If we are called to love as He does, we too are called to share in that outpouring of love. How can we do this if we don't have hearts to pour love into? We are called as disciples of Christ to make friends and to pour His love into their lives.
God's love is a gift of self. You can't give yourself to others if you don't have someone to give it to. God calls us by our baptism to share in His plan for salvation. That means that He calls us, by virtue of belonging to Him, to make friends. He didn't create us to be alone. That's one reason He made Eve. He gave us a community to love, care for, and support one another. It is our vocation to love one another. Bet you never thought of making friends like that, huh?
I got involved in my Church, and instantly formed a solid friend-group. We love and support each other, and we truly are a family. I didn't stop there though. I have friends all over campus now, from all different political and religious viewpoints, and all different backgrounds. And that's great too! Everyone needs to see God's love for them. After all, we are the only Christ some people will see.
Now my heart is overflowing with love. The more I made friends, the more I realized I was capable of loving. It's one of the weird paradoxes of our faith, and of love especially. The more we give of ourselves, the more we find we have to give. I'm so blessed by God to have been put where I am, surrounded by a group of amazing people, and in a place I truly feel I belong. I have my friends at home, and now I have a new group of friends here. They both are a huge part of who I am, and I don't have to let go of either one.
I don't tell you all of these things to brag. Ya'll know by now, I hate talking about myself. But God is so great that sometimes we just need to shout it out, you know? Not only that, but I share this to let you know that this is exactly what you can have too. You can have both: old and new. Regardless of how tough life is now (like I said, my life is great, not easy), it will get better. Regardless of how bad the people around you might seem, God will point you in the direction of the people who need you. Who knows, the worst people may even be the people who need you the most!
So, how do you go about finding these friends?
Answer: Pray. Ask God to send you people that can help you. Ask Him to send you to the people that need your help; to those that need to see Him; to those that most need love. Then be open to the answer. Be open to the Holy Spirit moving in you. Don't get caught up in what people look like, or first impressions. Far too many times I've let that keep me from getting to know people. Then when I finally get to know them, I regret not knowing them sooner because I see them for who they are. Also, be social, even if it's not easy for you. Say hello. Introduce yourself. And SMILE. Show them God's light and His love. He'll put you where you need to be, when you need to be there, if you just listen.
God's blessed me so much with the friends I have, and I can't wait to meet the friends I have in my future. I know that they'll be great. I will pray that you find the friends you were called to make as well. They're waiting for you!
I'll end by sharing this picture with you, that sort of sums it all up:
(Yes it's from Kingdom Hearts. I'm having a nerd moment ok?)
Just keep thinking of your friends, and praying for them. Then even if you don't see them again, you know that you'll always be together. And who knows, maybe your journey together has only just begun. Or maybe it has yet to!
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The song today is one that you all know: You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman. What other song could possibly capture this topic as well?
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy you've got a friend in me
Yeah you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You got troubles and I got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
'Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them
Will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you boy
And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
1 John 4:7 says "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God."
Show God's love to others through your friendship. Spread His light and love to both the old and the new.
Until next time my friends, I'll be praying for you!
Keep praying for me too!
~Wanted~
