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By Julie Perkins Cantrell  In the last ten years, I have moved twelve times. It hasn’t been easy, but each place has offered new opportunities for friendships, and each good-bye has taught me to cherish my time with the important people in my life.
My first lesson in friendship came long before my husband and I began our nomadic lifestyle. When we were eleven years old, my closest friend and I purchased a little gold heart that was broken into two pieces. I wore the half that read “Be Fri,” and she wore the half that read “St Ends.” When placed together, the inscription on the heart read “Best Friends.”
We had known each other since the age of four, and we were as close as sisters. The last time I saw her, we were fourteen and still wearing our hearts. I was sitting in a church pew with her family, and she was in a coffin. After a long fight, my dear friend lost her battle with leukemia.
Saying good-bye to her taught me how invaluable true friendship is. Today I can better appreciate the many genuine and wonderful friends who have made an indescribable impact on my life. The one who taught me to catch frogs and run barefoot over hot gravel roads. The one who ran away with me the day my parents announced they were getting divorced, and convinced me to return home two hours later. The one who explored the back streets of Europe with me. The one I told about my first kiss. The one who cried at my wedding. The one who came to the delivery room to hear: It’s a girl! The ones who help me load the moving van, over and over.
When I dig deep and consider the way friendships have shaped my life, I am reminded that we are not in this life alone. God gives us opportunities to make Connections with others every day, by listening to a person’s heart or by offering simple kindness. If we dig deep and offer even more of ourselves to others, imagine the difference we can make.
How have your friendships made you who you are today? What can you do to make new friends and support the important friends in your life during this season of mothering?
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Julie lives in Firestone, Colorado, with her husband Charles; their two
children, Emily and Adam; and their lovable Golden Retriever, Maggie. A former
speech-language pathologist, Julie is a regular contributor to MOMSense
Magazine. |
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