Friends are friends forever

There was this song that I remember crying over at the end of every youth group retreat. The leaders would put together a slide show of all the fun we had for the week and they would always play this song:

Friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

I suppose I should figure out who sang that. I'm sure I can find it on Google - hold on...

Michael W. Smith! Yes, I should of known that.

About a year ago when we were leaving Indiana, I wrote about friendships and how hard it is to continually say goodbye, especially in the military where there are constantly people moving in and out. Now it is happening again and it is hard. We have not been here long so deep friendships have not yet developed, but they were starting to, especially with two specific families who are both leaving next week! Can my heart be any more torn?

One of the families has been instrumental in helping us build up the small group Bible study meeting in our home. We were both new families to our church here, had kids around the same age, and I invited them to our first meeting. They, Kent & Erin, caught the vision and have really helped our group grow. Erin's been our worship leader and she is fabulous - we will surely miss that. Their two sons have been good friends with our children and I know we will miss that. She was inspiring me to be more creative and perhaps even scrapbook, since she's a Creative Memories consultant. She and I were just beginning to bond our hearts together - but now it will have to be long distance...

The second family I met through MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). Matt would talk all the time about his friend, Sophie, from MOPS. It was so sweet and we loved having her over for Matt's birthday party. Then Sophie's mom Ashley started a Bible study group through MOPS that I've been attending. It's been an incredible group for me. I really do love our small group here too, where it's both men and women and Lane leads our discussion. But there is also something so wonderful and intimate about getting together with other women. We share our hearts, our struggles, our dreams, and so much more. And just in the last few weeks, Ashley & I have found a common bond in wanting to homeschool, and we've been able to get Matt & Sophie together to play a few times, which he has really, really enjoyed. But, alas, they are moving too!

So I am left pondering again about friendships. I find it ironic that, as I said, I was so torn up about leaving new friends from the youth group retreats, and yet now I can remember only a couple of their names. What does make a friendship last, especially when we don't have the luxury of living near each other? I suppose a lot of it is effort - calling, emailing, visiting - and I'll admit I am terrible about that. I've been meaning to call a very good friend out in Indiana for months but never seem to find a good time.

However, we were encouraged two weeks ago with being able to visit with some college friends, Isaac & Christy. Isaac is in the military as well and though we always hope to be stationed near each other, so far it has only happened briefly in San Diego. We've crossed paths now and then out in California (where we all went to college) and even in Japan (where they were stationed and Lane was briefly deployed). Since we lived within driving distance here, not close but close enough, we had to take the opportunity to visit with them before the military moves them on to their next home soon.

Unfortunately, our little Moriah sprouted a leaky nose just as we arrived at their house so that made for a cranky weekend with her, but the boys had a great time playing with their kids, Chloe & Luke. They also have a new baby, Audrey, that I enjoyed cuddling a bit. She's very cute! It was almost humorous to bring our families together and see how we have exploded with little people. What a different phase of life we are in from those college days.

It was so good to spend the weekend with them, letting our kids get to know each other and catching up on life together. Our time spent with them reminded me about how awesome longterm friendships are. Because, really, "a lifetime's not too long to live as friends".

Oh, and we also saw snow there! Well, it was just a little dusting of snowfall that went away quickly but it was our first snow of the winter so we were excited!