Friendship

This week's Build Em Up post is about friendship.

Obviously having friends is an important part of life. I mean who goes through life not wanting friends or not needing friends?

I have been blessed by friendships in my life and stressed by friendships in my life. I think I've reached a point in my life where I've realized that some people are in our lives for just seasons and that's ok.

I've also realized that not every friendship is identical. I think for awhile I tried to put all my friendships in the same box. If I have this, this and this in common with person A then I MUST have those same things in common with person B.

It made no sense and put unrealistic expectations on friendships. So as with anything in life I'm learning along the way, learning what being a good friend looks like. Learning HOW to be a good friend. And learning that its ok to let some friendships go, and its ok to fight for some friendships.

I have so many friends in my life that bless me. Some are friends that I've known for YEARS. You know those kind of friends that you can hang out with or talk on the phone with after not talking for months and feel like not a second has passed since you last saw them.

I have my college friends who will probably always be a constant in my life. We may not see each other but once a year, and we may not talk as often as we could but these are people that were with me during some very important years in my life. They were my family away from my family. They were there when I met my future husband and all the ups and downs of that. We may all be different people now and be in different places of our lives, but I am grateful and thankful for these girls.

Then we have "recent' friends, meaning friends who have come into my life the past couple of years. Whether it was through blogging, through Scentsy, or just through living life I have been able to develop some pretty fabulous friendships.

To me, friendship is about doing life with people. Friends are people I know I can call on when I need prayer or encouragement, and I hope and pray that they know they can do that with me.

Not every friendships is equal, not every friendship is made up of the same components and I now realize that not every friendship will last forever. I am working on having grace with other people and with myself. I think this is the key to a good friendship...grace.

I don't really have any advice on how to get, make, or keep friends. I think these are just lessons you learn as you go through life. I do think I'm that overzealous friend that tends to come on a little strong. When I go into a friendship I automatically assume that the person is my new BFF and I will start texting them and sharing inside jokes with them almost immediately. This is probably scary to some and I've learned to back off a bit. And then others embrace it....

I guess you can tell if a friend is good if they are as crazy (or crazier) than you are!

I would absolutely love to go on a girl's trip one day, it wouldn't have to be anything big - just a bunch of my friends together in a cabin laughing and having fun and eating lots of queso.

Hmmm maybe I just planned my 30th birthday?

If I've learned anything about friendship it is that there is no true definition of friendship. We are all unique individuals and together we make up unique friendships, no two friendships being the same.

I am thankful for the people that inspire me, challenge me, and listen to me. My friends.