The ROI on Friendship

I thank God for my friends. I mean that sincerely... and literally. A common part of my thanksgiving to God lately(in addition to the gifts of my savior Jesus Christ, my amazing husband and my incredible family) has been thanking Him for my precious friends. I think I've always been pretty mindful of the gift of friendship in my life. But enduring a season of lack, always makes us so much more appreciative of what we have.

Over a year ago, I can remember being absolutely heartbroken over the lack of real friendship and community in our lives. We'd been living in Colorado for awhile and even though I still had my friends back home, we needed friends here - and it was just plain not happening. There were so many attempts made to try and connect but almost always, I came up empty-handed. I won't go into a ton of detail, but that time was incredibly hard for me. Each failed attempt, increased the difficulty of trying again... exponentially. But God saw my heart and knew my desires... He also knew what was ahead. His grace gave me the courage to keep at it and eventually come across the wonderful friendships He had waiting for John and I. And I'm not sure I could possibly appreciate them any more than I do right now.

I wonder how many people are wanting real friendship but the difficulty of trying yet again, is just too much. Real friendship... community... belonging - it costs something. It involves a very real risk of rejection and requires a very real level of vulnerability. But here's the thing - that's true of all worthwhile love. Real friendship and community comes at a cost - because it truly has such a high value. It's an investment that is worth it's return.