friends

the song says "you find out who your friends are" and really, that's true. people drift apart as they grow. sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad. untruths and lies are spewed from wagging tongues. but if there's anything we all would do well to remember, it's that people change, and not always for the better. but God places people in our lives for a reason, and when they leave, there's often someone else already there. and beyond all human relationships, both real and fake, there is the greatest friendship of all, the one we have with our Saviour, Jesus Christ. the Lord is not our lover, but He is our friend. He will always be there for us, forgive us, and protect us.

this world is cruel, and we're all woefully sinful.
perhaps more people would do well to remember that.
perfection in a friend is unattainable.
perfection in this life is unattainable.
but we are perfect and whole in the grace of Jesus Christ.
He's the greatest friend any of us will ever, ever have.

The Breaking of the Fellowship

As we go through our lives, there are few things that remain constant and steadfast.

Our Father in heaven certainly does.

Family does, in most cases.

And even some friends.

But it's the friends thing that gets me. I look back over the years and realize there are few friends in my life that have been there forever. In fact, I'm not really sure there are any. People grow; people change; people move on. And in our hearts, a piece of that person who you knew yesterday will always be there. In the last seven years or so, I was blessed to be part of a wonderful and tight knit group of friends. We did most things together, and it felt like we would be together forever.

Life isn't like that, though. I changed, and so did they. It was no one's fault; it just happened. Some of us had grand plans of traveling the world together, of writing books of our adventures. We even called ourselves the Fellowship, after the group in Lord of the Rings. And like the Fellowship, we never made it all the way as one. Like the Fellowship, we went our separate ways in the journey. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I am very happy with the direction my life is going, I cherish each and every one of the memories of our Fellowship. The adventures we went on and the craziness we took part in could truly fill volumes of thick books. Maybe some of those adventures will find their way into the stories I write someday. I've moved on to a new chapter in my own life; perhaps calling it the next book in a series would be more appropriate. Each and every one of the people I used to call my closest friends still hold a special place in my heart, right next to the special place my new friends have filled.

The Lord above has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams, I know this to be true. I've been so incredibly privileged in this life to know some very interesting and truly unique people. All of them have changed my life, one way or another. I can only hope that I have played a similar part in their lives.

If you've read Lord of the Rings, or at least watched the movies, you know that though the Fellowship breaks, that is not the end for them. They see each other again. And if not in this world, then in the next. As a Christian, that is a hope I can hold onto. All my brothers and sisters in Christ I shall see again in heaven, even if our lives have drifted apart in this broken and unpredictable world. What an awesome thing to know!!!

So I miss the friendships I used to have. Yet I'm so incredibly thankful for the friendships that have been forged now, in my Concordia days. I think...well, what it really comes down to is that there have been harsh words spoken and misconceptions have run wild. And on top of that all, we've simply grown apart. Life's crazy.