friends

I just chatted with an old friend today, she has something very happy going on in her life right now.  I have known her since 4th grade, Tami.  As I was thinking back over the years, I realized that in all the states I have ever lived in, God brought me a wonderful best friend.  They are all different, we each have different relationships, but they are all best friends. 

When I was in 4th grade my family moved down to Arizona from Minnesota.  I met Tami and we became fast friends.  We only lived in Arizona for 2 years, till we moved back to Minnesota when I was in 6th grade.  How could I have possibly made a life long friend in the 4th grade after knowing her for 2 years?  It is simple, it was God.  After I moved away we wrote letters, lots of letters.  When I was 19, I went to visit her in California where she moved.  Then when I was 22 she came to visit me in Minnesota.  When I was 26 I went to see her when she lived in Tennessee.  The last time I saw her was 11 years ago, in Vegas,  she had just had her second child, I was pregnant with Portia but didn't know it yet.

Tami got me through my first abusive marriage and divorce.  I helped her through her first marriage and divorce, when her husband abandoned her.   She helped me through my mom's death.  We have had so many life altering experience's in our friendship, I am tied to her for life.  We don't talk very often, as a matter of fact it can be years in between our phone calls.  But it doesn't matter, I can call her and it's as though we just saw each other a week ago.

When we moved to Oregon in 2002, God brought Heidi into my life.  We are just alike, we hit it off instantly.  I only lived there for 9 years but they weren't lonely because of her.  We were blessed enough to be pregnant at the same time.  Our husbands traveled all the time at the same time so we always took the kids out to eat. We would have slumber parties, she even brought her dogs..... We traveled together, she helped me decorate my first home in Oregon, that was just a couple blocks from her house.  Then when we moved to the farm, she let me cry on her shoulder.

And of course there is Rach, do I need to say anymore?  I have talked about her a lot.  I have known her since 2nd grade, but we became best friends in 6th grade.  We have certianly been through the wringer together.  We went through our troubled teenage years together.  She is my prayer warrior, she has prayed me through many, many situations.  We always laugh so hard we can't breathe.  I just don't know what I would do without Rach.

God is so good to us, isn't he?  These 3 women couldn't be more different from each other, but they are all equally important to me.  Thank you Lord for girl friends!