Friends Along the Way

There were just about 40 people at my birthday party last weekend.  When I entertain, I like to invite people who I know from different areas of my life ie. Bible study, work, neighbors, family, all friends who I have made along my life's journey.  The result is that there are always people at my events who have never met some of the other guests.  My friends always accuse me of trying to shake up the mix!  For that reason, I find myself explaining to everyone just how I met so and so.

As I made these introductions at this last party, I was struck by the number of people who I have met through tough situations or circumstances that were not the greatest...maybe at a job that I hated or sitting at my son's wrestling practice night after night in a stinky sweaty gym or even at a Bible study where the person who invited me never showed up, so I was forced to talk to other women I had never met before.  I have the most precious friends stemming from these exact circumstances.

I listened to the stories I told as I introduced everyone at my birthday party and explained how I met each one, realizing that there are people who are just absolutely meant to be in my life.  And if the only way for me to meet them was by being at a hated job for a short period of time, or spending countless hours at wrestling practice, then so be it.  Neither money nor things make my life sweet; people do.  And God knows who those people are and how to bring me to them.

So, if you find yourself in a situation where you can't figure out why you're there or what good can possibly come from it, ask yourself if there just might be a lifelong friend in the mix; someone who will add so much richness and joy to your life that you would gladly go through the "bad" situation again, just to meet them!