Is it just me?

If we had all the riches

that we could ever spend

it could never buy the treasures

the heart finds in a friend.

Unknown Author

My day has began thinking about friendship. I flipped the page of my devotional calendar that is perched on the window sill above the kitchen sink this morning. I read the words above.

I clicked to Soul Journey, an online devotional sight, and read today's words, The Covenant. The exact subject I am studying in my class every Thursday morning. The author begins with this question, "What ever happened to the best friend you had when you were ten?". The author continues to equate friendship to our relationship with God and the promises He makes to us. A relationship that will literally last forever! If you have never studied covenants in the Bible, you need to make it a priority. I have been blessed! God is our forever friend! The author ends with, "Don't feel bad about forgetting that fourth grade friend. Most of us have."

Have most of us forgotten our best friends when we were youth? I haven't. I will NEVER forget the forever friends I had growing up! I have felt deeply passionate about keeping up with all those friends over the years. Is it just me? My son L is a fourth grader. He has had some of the same special buddies since he was four years old. I get teary eyed thinking he might not keep those bonds for the rest of his life. Those precious friendships!

My New Year's resolution this year was to find a few confidants that I have lost. I have found Amy, or she found me. We were neighborhood sisters for many years. We spend endless days building Barbie homes, riding our bikes to the corner store, and making mud pies. We lost touch when she moved out of state. I was surprised to receive a Christmas card from her this year with a picture of her beautiful family! I was ecstatic! I was also blessed to have coffee with Lori just recently when I visited her city. A short visit but priceless. I spoke of Cheryl and my Wild Weekend. And of course there is Kim and Elaine. There are many,many more.

My goal this year is to discover lost friends. My hope is to let them know that my thoughts are of them and to rekindle the covenant we shared at one time. I hope to find Jill, a friend from college. I would like to know how Dale is doing? I haven't spoken to my good friend D'Nell in quite sometime.

I still keep in touch with all my other treasured friends from when I was ten, sixteen, twenty, and in my thirties. It is one of my life goals. I have even remained friends with a couple of old boyfriends. Thankfully my husband understands the friendship part of those relationships are important to me as well.

As I was reminded this weekend when a friend of a friend passed away suddenly, life can end in a blink of an eye. I want all the treasured friends I have made in my lifetime to know that they all have a special place in my heart and that I will be their friend for life no matter what!

May I ask you all to pray for Bonnie and her two boys. They lost their husband and father on Saturday suddenly from a brain aneurysm.