Friendship is Clairvoyant

Anonymous

Many of us are fortunate enough to have friends who are a consistent part of our lives throughout all our ups and downs. However, sometimes others we consider friends appear to enter, then depart from our lives for reasons we try to, but don't always, understand. This piece nicely explains the flow of people in and out of our lives.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

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.

I had remembered this poem being sent via email some years back & I've thought of it several times this week.  I truly have had friends who fit every category.  Nine years ago, Joel & I moved to the DC area with  a handful of people in town that we knew--our "Michigan Family".  These were exactly that--friends from our years in MI who had also relocated to the DC area in the same time frame as us.  We continue, today, to gather with this same "family" a couple times a year--we've grown by 3 marriages & by 6 child births in the past decade of our friendship, but we're forever bonded.

Auntie L & Baby Jackie:  Fall 2002

Michigan Family Dads Go Camping:  Summer 2007

Michigan Family Hang:  Labor Day 2009

Not long after we moved to town, we became close friends with a fellow horn player & his wife.  Soon we had a whole group of  band friends who affectionately became our "DC Band Family".  In the last 8 years, we've grown by 16 children & had one family move away from the area, another even farther away.  Occasionally the group finds a way back together--last time being the summer of 2009--but fortunately we still get to see bits & pieces of the group from time to time.  And this weekend K & C brought their beautiful family to town for the weekend & stayed with us.  I love nothing more than watching our children play together & staying up till the wee hours of the night sharing stories & laughing after not seeing each other for months.  

Band Family:  Halloween 2005

Band Family:  Zoo 2009

At the same time this weekend my long distance BFF in Texas was attending Joel's concert & meeting him for the very first time in person.  I know they've never had a conversation--never heard each other's voice--before today.  But I also know they knew enough about each other to comfortably chat before.  My two favorite peeps meeting up so many miles away--so very cool!  

My Besties:  C & Hubby

While on the subject of friends, I just can't leave out my college girls--the "clique" who befriended me when I was an innocent freshman, gave me a place to stay in between apartments, made sure I had a proper 21st birthday celebration, stood by my side on my wedding day, called asking for EVERY DETAIL when I had my babies & sent support via the miles during my multiple surgeries.  In my years of knowing these girls, we've all earned our college degrees, had 7 weddings and now have 15.75 babies--the 16th peanut is due next month!  

 

Clique Hang:  Summer 2009

Clique Wedding:  Spring 2010

Friends--Near or Far, Old or New.  This has been a week of reflection on my friendships for various reasons.  No matter where you fit into my life or when, I thank you for all you are/were/will be in my life!  

People come into your life for a reason, season or a lifetime--it's so true!