The Many Faces of Friendship

This past weekend has left me contemplating a lot about friendships and the many different forms they take. Now, you may be wondering, what could possibly set off such thoughts. Well, I spent this past weekend with someone I have been very good friends with for a few years. We started off by gaining fitness and nutrition knowledge from each other, then went through our first pregnancies together, learned how to be moms together, and saw each other through a number of different life experiences. Yea, so what? You're thinking that's not all that uncommon, right? Well, the odd thing about this past weekend get-together is it was our FIRST meeting...EVER! You heard right. We had never met in person until last Thursday. We met online through a fitness forum and our friendship grew exponentially over that time. I would now, without hesitation, consider her one of my very very closest friends. Heck, she probably knows more about the going ons in my life than some of my close friends that live 30 minutes or less away from me and that I see on a semi-regular basis. So that is where my rambling thoughts originated. I consider myself very blessed with the friendships I have. I am lucky to have all sorts of friends that I know support me and that I can count on. Each friend brings something special to my life. 

There are the friends who have known me for years and years and years. The ones that even though we don't talk as often as we used to, it always feels like nothing has changed since the last time we met. My "old" friends are the ones who know my past, share my present, and who without a doubt will still be there in the future. They have known me in some of my not-so-proud moments of life and were having some wild and crazy times right beside me. There will be memories with them that I will never forget and will always laugh about when thinking back. They are the friends who I could never let go and don't want to ever lose. No matter how different our life paths lead us or how many miles they put between us, these friendships will be there and be the chocolate chip cookies comfort food of my friend life. 


Then I have the newer friendships I have recently acquired through becoming more involved with my church. These people are ones that I know the good Lord brought to me to help me grow. A couple of years ago, when my life was changing due to marriage and growing up, I was feeling a bit lost and as though I was losing the closeness of some of my other relationships. Fortunately, Peter & I were involved in a Sunday school class called The Goodlife Group for 20s and 30s through our church, Sugarloaf United Methodist. Formal churchgroup classes and social gatherings gradually led to getting to know members of the group more and more, which led to more intimate friendships and spending more regular time together outside of Sunday mornings. It was nice to grow closer to people in similar stages of life and with similar interests. And to this day, I look forward to our weekend dinner gatherings, visits to the lake, and our weekly Sunday morning class just as much as when we first getting to know them all. I foresee continued growth in these frienships and  watching each other grow in our faith and our families grow together. 

And then, aside from all that, I have my friends that I have met through a fitness forum. It is unbelievable how close you can grow to someone through a computer, but the friendships I have gained there are so important to me. A shared passion of fitness is not something common in my day-to-day life, so I value being able to share it with these fabulous women. After all, that is how I met Mandy - one of my best friends. Now, hopefully, I will find other friendships growing through this blog as well. The face of friendship is constantly changing. Embrace all of the love and support you can get from others. There is no such thing as too many friends. So make a new one today. I know I would be honored to be your friend :)