Saturday, August 22, 2009

Friends are Friends FOREVER!!

I recently came across an article on MSN titled "7 Friends Every Woman Needs." It made me think about how blessed I am with the friendships that the Lord has given me.

I would like to start a new series on my blog honoring my AWESOME friends, and I have chosen to compose a blog post about each one of these friends on their birthday. Some of the friends that I will choose to blog about don't even read my blog or know it exists...it's just for fun...and it allows me an outlet to thank the Lord for each one of them.


The History Friend

Happy Birthday to the AWESOME Christian woman that I am blessed to call my history friend!! I must admit that I copied a lot from the letter I wrote to you before your wedding...they were special words then, and I wanted to make sure I got it all right!

I met you in August 1998 (goodness...11 years ago...almost to the day!), it was definitely a life changing month for me!! I had not only moved more than 500 miles away from my parents, but I met YOU during that month!! I know that God was totally there on that one fateful August afternoon when He had me ask you to go to Freebird’s with me. I typically was a shy girl, but for some reason when I saw your bright, warm face, I just had an urge to ask you to come out to lunch with me. That was definitely one of the greatest decisions that I have ever made!! (A much better decision than me choosing to wear a "House of Blues" t-shirt and you choosing to wear a tie-dyed "Joe's Crab Shack" t-shirt.) We have truly evolved in our fashion sense...haha!!

You were an answered prayer for me! You were an answered prayer from my mother’s awesome prayers! I always wanted a friend like you while I was in high school, and I prayed that God would bring me a once in a life time friend while at A&M. You fit the mold of my prayers for a friend: Christian (which you are an AWESOME woman of God), honest, great listener, considerate, trustworthy, compassionate, and of course FUN! I never had to question if you would be there for me because you were always there before I even had to ask for help, and you always gave me wise advice.

You will never realize how much your cheerful words and praises helped me throughout my time at A&M as well as in present day. I think we all know how easily stressed and worked up I can get about pointless events in my life! Every time that I move now, I find a ton of “Good Luck” signs and notes you made for me throughout our A&M career that I have saved in different plastic containers. Your wise words and Bible verses were so meaningful to me, and I probably never thanked you enough for the encouragement. I treasure your kind words and artwork, and I know that I will never get rid of them!

You brushed away my tears continuously! I will definitely never forget how much trouble you went through to make sure I got back into Underwood Hall after finding my lost student ID card. I was already having a meltdown due to my upcoming Chem 101 test, and you knew exactly how I was going to react once I found out I had lost my ID card. You had only known me for a couple of weeks, but you were such a generous and understanding friend to go through all that for me. You always listened to me relay my bad day and offered words of wisdom. I never had to cry alone with you around!

There are so many “little things” that I share with you, that I’m not sure if I know where to begin, and I definitely know I will be leaving a ton of stuff out! Probably my favorite “little thing” was eating dinner with you almost every night. I never realized how much my family meant to me until I left for A&M. It was so refreshing to get to eat and PRAY with you every night at dinner. Another favorite “little thing” that stands out in my mind is going for ice cream on a Wednesday night freshman year! We were like two prisoners getting released from prison when we left campus that night! I think we may be the only 2 people on the face of this earth to laugh at that experience, but I still remember the fun we had! A huge “little thing” that I miss dearly to this day is our time in my room with you sitting on my bed. I’d pay good money to get one more night again where you would come sit on my bed and we would just cut-up about the day and of course procrastinate our studying! Maybe I could hear you say once more..."I want to marry an AGGIE!!!" (I'm SO glad it eventually happened for you!) I also miss the “little thing” of making sure that the other didn’t oversleep for a final. We were always like each other’s mother!

I feel that we really progressed to "mature" women by the time we graduated from A&M. We had those many days and nights of wanting to just be through with school and the stress that it entails, but we helped each other through all the hard times. You were my shoulder to cry on during the times I thought I was going to fail, and you always had a joke to cheer me up. You always had a way of entertaining me in the library even by sending me funny messages over the study carrel! You were also always there to tell me I was having a wonderful hair day when it probably was one of the worst hair days of my life!!

I prayed hard that our friendship would not cease after we left A&M. I knew that we were going to be living far apart and doing our own separate things, but I truly wanted to still be connected to you. You were my faithful friend that talked to me every Sunday night, and I SO looked forward to your calls. It was a rough start for me at pharmacy school, and you always cheered me up! You are such a faithful friend that always remembers my zany stories and asks me about my life! At the age of 80, I still hope to reminisce with you about our fun memories!

It has been so fun watching you in the role of wife. You have truly blossomed in this role, and I am so happy to see you in such a solid, godly marriage. We each have our own "adult" lives, but I always know I can pick up where I left off with you. I am so proud of all of your work accomplishments and am so proud to call you my friend.

You will ALWAYS be my dear friend! In the words that you have often shared with me over the past 11 years (and I hope many years to come), “Thanks for being my friend!”

Thursday, August 13, 2009

"I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life"

So I heard this song by Green Day tonight and it got the squeaky wheels in my brain turning. I have had writer's block recently due to the pressure of blogging about my Ohio trip, which I SERIOUSLY need to do, but let's go with this thought for now!! I love you Ohio relatives!!

This song by Green Day makes me think of happy times at the end of my high school career and just puts me in the mood to reminisce about my times growing up in A-town. I began thinking how romantic it sometimes seems about the possibility of moving back to A-town and falling in love with a local or even someone from my past. This crazy notion is probably due to my love for the now cancelled TV show "Ed" and the few times I saw the TV show "October Road." These shows seem so glamorous to me because the show's main character was at a crossroads in his life and picks up everything from his exciting life in the big city and moves back to his hometown to all the people he left behind. Ok...so the people I left behind are basically my parents and my cat, Sandie...not so glamorous for me!! I unfortunately don't have a cool group of pretty, single friends back in A-town, nor does one of my friends own a restaurant/bar where I could find the love of my life. So maybe I need to be like "Ed" (the "Bowling Alley Lawyer"), and open a pharmacy in a bowling alley. I do possess my own bowling shoes and my dad does have his own bowling ball.... Maybe one of my customers will be a blast from my past AND the love of my life...haha!!! I also dream of having a smoke-free bowling alley where I counsel everyone on smoking cessation and hand out nicotine patches like they were candy!!!

I digress... So I actually guess I did get the chance to move back to my hometown after college when I attended pharmacy school in A-town, but I definitely wouldn't call it an "Ed" experience. I did reunite and date a childhood friend, but he then proceeded to be a complete jerkface and break my heart just a tad. I guess I just should have bought a bowling alley, and it might have worked out!! The bowling shoes just weren't enough?!? I digress AGAIN...

So now on to my serious point...I have been convicted lately about not being content with where my life is RIGHT NOW. I either keep thinking about the great times of my life in the past or wanting great times to happen for me in the future. Why are we wired like that?!? Why am I complaining and not feeling satisfied when I have a God who is giving me constant grace and is in control over EVERYTHING in my life. I pray that God will keep teaching me to be content with everyday, and that I will learn that it is through Christ that I get my strength and sustenance.

Philippians 3:13-14

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."


PS...For all my 2 readers from Fort Worth, I am in NO way planning to leave Fort Worth anytime soon...I just dream about weird things...that's why I should probably have an anonymous blog!!!