Saturday, March 14, 2009

A Gift

Hello. My name is Barbaranne, and I'm a Facebook user.

There, it's out. I too am addicted. A member of the cult, as it were. I have plenty of good excuses though. A son living on one side of the globe, a husband and daughter on the other. Many dear friends dispersed hither and yon. And I don't like to talk on the phone for more than the bare exchange of information. Facebook is one of the best ways to share pictures with friends, near or far. The running commentary and back and forth chit-chat are fun. But nothing beats actually being in the same room with one's dearest friends, looking through their eyes and straight to their hearts. Which explains why I drove five hours on Thursday to have lunch with two of my oldest friends. (No, they're not old, the friendship is... but it never gets old with them... You know what I mean.)

Somehow it all worked. Wednesday the friendly FB banter about them having lunch together turned to, "why don't you join us?" As I laughed it off, I ran down the list of reasons why there was no way it would work,... and each one fell away. There was no good reason why I couldn't take a day trip across the state to see these heart-mates from whom I have been too long separated! So I brewed up some serious coffee, packed some great sermon cds to listen to on the drive, left Bekah pizza money, and off I went!

I am sure that we are each different in our capacity for close friendships. For myself, there are a handful of people who have entered my life and taken up residence in my heart. Few and far between, these people can be absent for years, and yet, when we see one another, we can pick right up where we left off.

Looking into their eyes Thursday I could clearly see that, though experiences and situations have changed each of us, and even left their marks, these were the same women with whom I shared such close and sweet fellowship 19-10 years ago. Three different people, for whom the Lord has given three very different paths in life, and we can read one another like open books. All of a sudden the years apart fall away and we are 25 again, laughing and giggling over the least things. Finishing each others' sentences and finding such joy together.

I thought that I might need to keep a protective barrier around myself, that caution may be a wiser course to take. How very vain; how very untrusting. My Father gave me these women for sisters. Mutual love instantly melted away any concerns that I held, and God hugged me with their arms.


Praise God for Facebook. Okay,... maybe not. But praise God for friends,... sisters.

2 comments:

Kate Kelly said...

Yay!!

Anonymous said...

Barbaranne,

You are so, so, You. I love you.