God-Given Friends

"I didn't find my friends; 

the good Lord gave them to me."  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This year has taught me many things.  Probably one of the most important is that He knows exactly what I need and when I need it most.  When my best friend decided that she did not want to have anything to do with me any more, I felt so lost and alone.  I did not have any other friends.  For me, making friends is difficult.  I love people, I have lots of acquaintances,  I care for people and I want to help them, but I don't really have many people that I go to when my heart is aching.  I didn't have anyone else in my life that lived close to me that I could share my thoughts, my dreams, and my girl time with.  

I was so lonely for a while.  I didn't even know how to start to find new friends.  Then, really in ways I still don't understand, they came to me.  Now I am surrounded.  I am so blessed with friends.  People who know my story.  People who are there for me.  Women who care.  I am overwhelmed with the love and support that have come to me through these amazing women in my life.  

I know that I didn't have anything to do with finding new friends.  The Lord sent them to me when I needed them most.  He let them know that I needed them.  It has been an amazing experience.  I am learning that real friends know that sometimes you give and sometimes you receive and that is OK.  Sometimes, they know what I need without me asking.  

One of my friends is a doctor who knows I get migraines.  One week, after a particularly nasty one that wouldn't go away, she saw me at church and asked if I was alright.  I told her that I still had a headache, but was going to go home and go to bed.  As soon as church was over, she showed up at my door, shot in hand to take away the pain.  

I suppose the best thing that I have learned from all this, the most sacred part, is that we need to lay our grief at the Lord's feet and trust Him that He will help us through.  We need to pour our hearts out to Him when we are needing and let Him decide what we really need to get us through.  I have learned that I am never alone.  That He is always by me.  I have learned that those who He sends stand with me through the hard times and support me no matter how difficult those times are.  

I cherish the great gift of friendship that is sent by Him.