Sometimes we have to intentionally create space for friendship.
I got a text last week from a dear friend of mind. She is one of those heart sisters who I met in church many years ago. Have you ever met someone who you just hit it off with immediately? It was like I had known her my whole life. We had the same high school experiences. We liked the same music. We had the same ideas about raising kids. We viewed life the same way. When she told me her husband was being transferred to Wisconsin, I was devastated. We promised to keep in touch.
We kept our promise for several years. We talked on the phone regularly. Her hubby brought her back here to celebrate her surprise 40th birthday party. When they moved again, this time to Raleigh, North Carolina, we went for a visit. We talked about getting together again. Life got busier and we talked less. We started playing phone tag more than talking. We became Facebook friends and we kept up that way.
But, last week, she had talked to a mutual friend of ours that made her think of me and she sent me a text that said: “I need some Wendy time. I want to catch up. What does your calendar look like this week?” I was thrilled. I missed her too. I texted her immediately and we set up a time and a contingency time. I got called into work on the original time, so we went with the contingency.
On Friday morning, my kids had the day off from school. I made a cup of coffee, went out to my porch and called my old friend. We talked for and hour-and-a-half and got caught up. It was fabulous. It was like it’s always been between us; we just picked right up. We promised not to go so long next time and to set up another date soon.
I thought about our conversation all weekend and the gift of friendship. Life is busy. It will likely always be busy. My parents are busier now since they have both retired, than they ever were before. So those of us still raising kids and all that entails and working too, can’t just hope that someday life will slow down. I don’t know that it ever really slows down. We just become a different kind of busy, which is okay. It’s good to be involved and busy.
But, maybe we should step back from time-to-time and reflect on the people who are special to us and make time to connect. If they are close by, then even if it’s every couple of months, try to set up coffee or lunch or dinner. If they are far away, set up a time to talk. Don’t settle for text, Facebook or phone tag. Make an appointment to talk and keep it.
There’s something about the human voice and its inflection and conversation that can never be truly communicated through e-mail, Facebook or text. Social media can be a great way to keep up, but to stay truly involved, we need to talk to one another, something that’s sadly lacking in many of today’s relationships.
Most of us have been blessed with beautiful friendships, but what we never have enough of, is time. I think that we need to intentionally create some space to keep up with those we hold dear. I think it honors our friendships and it honors God, who gave them to us. I don’t want to miss any of the blessings that come from friendship, by being too busy. I’m so glad she reached out. I’m going to really try and do better with keeping up. Care to join me?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂