Real friends are hard to come by

I was going through some photos from this year, to try and get some inspiration about what to blog about today [i have been slack, i know - punish me!] and came across one of my favourite photos from this year. It is of me with 3 of my girlfriends from school.

I so very rarely get to see each of these girls, maybe a handful of times in a year, if that and it sucks! But what I have learnt, is that real, true friends - the ones with the most beautiful, honest, pure hearts, with the best intentions, are so very precious and rare.

I would say i havent had much luck with friends over the years. I had a best friend from Year 1 to Year 7 - and we did everything together..and I mean, everything! We were the girls who would hang out in the toilets to wag going to sport because we would rather be playing with our barbie dolls...the ones who would stuff their bras with toilet paper to make our boobs look bigger...the ones who would spend hours making up dances to Mariah Carey songs and the Spice Girls, singing into fake microphones. We would make each other laugh SO much we would literally wet ourselves, and we would skinny dip in her parent's pool!

But, as life goes on, people change and as we grow up - sometimes we grow apart. I was apart from this girl for about 5 years, and we have recently made amends...I love that! I love how God works in our lives. There was obviously a reason we went through our 'individual' phases, but now - we are able to talk and laugh together again, and for that i am eternally grateful!

My other, beautiful best friend lives all the way up in Broome! :( We met working at a law firm (my first REAL job) back when i was about 18 years old. Even though we rarely see each other (again), when we see each other, or speak to each other, it is like time has been standing still all this time!

  Leigh, Maggie and myself (many moons ago)

And the 3 beautiful ladies you see in this photo below, are the girls I went through highschool and church with. I have them to thank for keeping me on the straight and narrow, for encouraging me in my faith, for crying with me when I was having tough times, and for making me laugh when life was getting stressful! They supported me through my dancing, even when I should have been studying harder and they have stuck by me through everything! Again, i rarely see them, but wanted to take this opportunity to honour them, along with all my other 'best' friends.

Euphelene, myself, Linzi and Alicia [the 2 on the ends are beautiful, Godly, single young ladies...if you know any suitors!]

I only have a handful and we dont go shopping every weekend, we dont go out on coffee dates and have long gossipy phonecalls to one another - we are just who we are and what we are...and I love that.

I am going to make an effort in 2011 to be the best person I can be. To spend time nurturing old friendships and creating new ones. I have always failed by 'judging a book by its cover'. I thought I was good at it, but have just recently discovered, I am not. I fail in this area. Everyone deserves a chance, and I really feel God is trying to teach me to have a spirit of kindness, and to see the world, and people through His eyes, not my own. For I am but a sinner, and am certainly in no way perfect at all.

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Proverbs 18:24

Much love