Some people have one or two friends who will stick though thick and thin with them. I am fortunate to have three. In our 20 years of friendship, BT, LP Liz and I have weathered two marriages, several boyfriends, 1.5 kids, some long separations abroad, a backpacking trip, fights, misunderstandings, persecution, pains of puberty, young adulthood and now early motherhood.
I often wonder how four so incredibly different people can get together and stay friends for such a long time. All of us know each other like, inside out. It's just so uncanny. We share a very strong bond that boggles even ourselves. We may not have given much thought to it, but the centre of our relationship has always been God. We all came to know Jesus at different times (BT and mine being closer in proximity) and in some strange, unplanned and natural manner we just gravitated towards each other. We liked different things, but found that heck, we just liked each other's company enough to forego our own preferences.
There were serious times of misunderstandings too. Like when boyfriends started to come into the picture. And when BT got married, we wondered how the face of our relationship would alter. And then Liz followed suit. Changes in career stole our time too, and in our pursuit of security, cracks of compromise started to surface in our relationship.
One thing that remained unchanged though, was God's constant care for us. Though not perfect, that care was reflected in our friendship in many ways - unseen sacrifices that were made for each other, timely encouragement delivered with honesty and kindness, firm words of correction accompanied by love, and many, many instances that grew us into the people we are today.
During dinner tonight, the four of us remembered how precious this gift of friendship is, how much we mean to each other, and how easily this bond can be broken. It is one of those beautiful "God" moments.
Thank You, Lord, for the great privilege of having friends who understand me so well; be there for me, and strenghten my walk with You.
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