True friends or ....?

As I prepare for a girlies' weekend away, I thought it timely to reflect on friendships. Who are our friends, why do we choose them and allow them to come into our lives? Why do we have a stronger bond with one and not the other? Granted, we all have different personalities, but why does one move more in synch and have the same values and principles while the other... you hardly hear from until they want something from you... what do we do then? Do we cut them off as friends or do we still accept and be there for them? What happens if you are there for them but they are not there for you? They tell you their life story but is not interested in the happenings in your life? It this person is not your spouse, is it possible for him / her to be a friend for life?

Friendships like any relationships are hard work, we need to water and nurture it. God sends people in to our lives for a reason and a season. If there is only one hand, it cannot make a sound. We need friends to grow together, encourage and uphold each other, be there for you through thick or thin, truthful and not afraid to tell you off but is there to link arm in arm to run the race before us. Life is hard enough as it is to fight alone and I think this is one of the reasons God sends these "angels" to help us along the way when the going gets tough, but it's does not give us the right to take each other for granted!

Here are some thoughts to ponder....

We talk of choosing our friends, but friends are self-elected

AGE is a mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter

Falling in love is easy but staying in LOVE is something very special

A friend, is, as it were, a second self

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get OLD

A friend is someone who reaches for your hand but touches your heart

Wherever you are it is your friends who make your world

Growing old is inevitable, growing UP is optional

A hug is the shortest distance between friends

Laughter is the medicine of life

It is not the years in your life that counts, it is the life in your years

Love doesn't make the world go round but it makes the ride worthwhile

Having a place to go - is a home, having someone to love - is a family

To have a good friend is one of the greatest delights of life

Friends have a way of speaking without words

To have JOY one must share it

It is important to have a twinkle to your wrinkle