I’ve always thought friends were important, but I think the past year in particular has reinforced this truth. I'm sure I've mentioned my friends several times in previous posts, and maybe you’re getting a bit bored of it, but sometimes I simply can’t help it. I do try to make a point of appreciating everything I have, but this is about more than just that.
It's a difficult thing to admit, but I’ve not always had an easy ride when it comes to
friendships. I’ve moved around a few times, leaving friends behind more than once. I made a best friend when I was seven, who left for boarding school when I was ten. Secondary school was better,
but even there I always found it hard to fit in. With a few exceptions, it wasn’t
really until sixth form that I felt like I had a great friendship group.
They say
that at uni you meet the people you will be friends with for life. I have been
fortunate enough to have met a few people like this already during my school years. Even after being away at uni we can still meet up and get on just as easily.
I think though that when I started uni, I realised just what making friends for life meant.
Being at
university is such an intense experience in many ways and it is that massive
life change that brings people together; some likeminded (in some cases
incredibly so), others not at all, but the connections that are established
often run deep regardless. For me they have, anyway.
There are
the friends I talk for hours with over tea or coffee. The friends who help me
to grow in my faith. The friends I laugh with over a chick flick. Some of them I would love to get to know better next term. Others I feel I have known for years and years and can't imagine not knowing.
There’s a
quote somewhere that goes something like this- ‘friends are the
family you choose for yourself’. In many cases I have found this to be true.
Of course,
being brothers and sisters in Christ, Christians are called to love one another
like family, and what I love about my small group, for example, is that this
really comes across. The genuine care, support and affection we all share is
such a joy to experience, and has helped me through many a hard time during my
first year.
I have been
extremely blessed with good friends this year- God knew exactly what I needed. It’s really made me realise just how much of
a difference friendships make in life. Life, after all, is not made up only of
what we do or where we are, but of the people who surround us. I’m not one of
these people who need to be around others all the time; I appreciate my own
space. But I suppose I just wanted to take a moment to share how much my
friends have meant to me, as sentimental as that may sound, and to my friends who are reading
this, know how thankful I am to have you all.
I hope each
of you reading this is fortunate enough to be equally blessed in your
friendships. I hope you have, or will find someday, friends who will laugh with
you. Cry with you. Truly understand you. Stand with you through hard times.
Bring out the best in you. Share your hopes and dreams.
If this isn’t
how it is for you, have patience and take heart. Loneliness has to be the most
awful feeling in the world, from my own experience, and no-one deserves to feel
that way. But good things will come to those who wait.
Take time to
appreciate the people who mean most to you.
Love
C.
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