Friends

Facebook is everywhere.  It has been a great place to reconnect with friends from my past even if it's just through the internet.  It's also helped me stay update with other friends that I don't see often.  The downside is that even though you've found them and "friended" them not all the relationships can be as close as they once were.  Perhaps you've grown apart through distance or your interests have changed but for whatever reason you friendship fell by the wayside for a reason.  I was going through my friend list today and I started to get a little sad at some of the names I saw there.  It reminded me of a poem by an unknown author.

People come into your life for a reason, 

a season, or a lifetime. 

When you figure out which one it is,

you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON. . .
It is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
to provide you with guidance and support,
to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are!
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part,
or at an inconvenient time, this person will say
or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met,
our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered.
And now it is time to move on.

Then people come into your life for a SEASON....
Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons
: things you must build upon in order to have
a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all
other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Those names maybe me mourn.  Long lasting friendships are hard to come by.  Not every friendship will last through each and every transformation you go through as you're searching to define and redefine the persona you call "SELF".   One morning you might wake up and realize that a friendship you thought would last you through a lifetime only survived a season or two.   Here's to those lost friendships and to those that morn what was lost.