The announcement is out…It’s a GIRL!!!

This is the way Papa and I found out…

We cannot wait to hold this sweet ‘Lil Pumpkin’ in our arms!

In this world of overactive social media, where a friendships are wide and often shallow, it’s refreshing to know you have a Forever Friend that is with you till the end!

My college roommate and I have that Forever Friendship! We have never lived very long in the same area, but wherever God takes us around the globe, or around the United States, we remain Forever Friends! We have truly been through the good, the bad and the ugly together. You name just about anything life can throw at you and we have experienced it together. Our friendship grounded in Christ has kept our relationship strong and real!

I started college in the Fall of 1978. I was only 17 years old! I was scared, lonely and hurting from the recent break-up of my parents marriage. My dad left the family earlier that Spring, and I took off for college that Fall.  There is a beautiful story of hurt, sadness, forgiveness and restoration that I will tell another time, but on the road to restoration, one of the greatest blessings God gave me was my college roommate. Little did I know then, that we would become, ‘Forever Friends!’

This picture of me standing on a glass floor,  60 stories above the ground in the Calgary Tower of Canada, depicts how I felt leaving home and going away to college by myself!

Do you see me holding tightly to the railing? Do you see my husbands hand on my shoulder? (He had to walk out with me!) And, if you look really close, you will be able to see that my smile is actually more of a shrill than a smile!

Leaving for college with my family life at home shattered, and walking into the unknown, made me feel like this experience at the Calgary Tower.  I was gripping God with every muscle in my body, as tightly as I could. His secure, solid hand on my shoulder was the only thing allowing me to stand on my feet and not crumble to the ground. I managed, through His strength, to keep a shrill smile on my face as I walked into the unknown.

The first solid ground my feet landed upon was my roommate Sheri. My original roommate Susan, knew Sheri needed roommates and brought her to our dorm room. That was no accident! God brought Sheri into my life that year. We have shared so many life experiences together, some good, like meeting our husbands, sharing favorite places like the beach, Disneyland, the mountains and mostly CHURCH, and sharing favorite outings like lunch together, coffee dates and SHOPPING!We have also shared difficult times together, the death of our grandparents, her mother and brother, and many, many disappoints and betrayals. However, in the nearly 40 years that we have known each other, she has been faithful, committed, loyal and available to me ALWAYS!

She is unique, she is a gift, she is my FOREVER FRIEND!

As we were blessed to spend time together recently, I was reminded of the rarity of such a friendship. We live in a world that is consumed with SELF! We want our needs met, our desires reached, our space kept and our rights reserved! Friendships seem to be as disposable as our plastic water bottles. We drink them up and throw them out.

A FOREVER FRIENDSHIP is one that looks to the interests of one another. It thinks more highly of the other than itself. It is faithful and committed through the good as well as the bad. It stands the test of time and comes out shining like a jewel, because it is grounded in Jesus!

“DO NOT MERELY LOOK OUT FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL INTERESTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS.”                   PHILIPPINES 2:4

I was reminded of a song from my college days, this past week as I spent time with my Forever Friend.

The chorus goes like this,

“Friends are Friends Forever, when The Lord’s The Lord of Them, and a Friend will not say never, because the welcome will not end. Though it’s hard to let you go, in The Father’s hands I know, that a lifetime is not too long, to live as Friends.”

TRUTH BOMB

FOREVER FRIENDS STAND THE TEST OF TIME!

Forever Friendships are not easy. They take commitment, sacrifice and steadfastness, but they are worth it!

Blessings Friends, I am privileged to call you that!

Speak Truth Love