Friends?

It's good to have friends. I am a firm believer that you can never have too many. When you are in the eye of the public, you get an opportunity to make new friends. I am always appreciative of the privilege of doing so. Relationships are important, and I do not take lightly the "friendship" tag.

A friend is defined as:
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

2.	a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter

3.	a person who is on good terms with another; one who is not hostile source: dictionary.com

There are friends, and then there are FRIENDS. Some are friends at a distance. I am not speaking of distance in the terms of miles, but in terms of relationship. There are intimate friendships, casual friendships, and the distant ones in regards to you know them and are ok with them, but prefer to keep the relationship in the distant manner. Or perhaps, they prefer to do so.

There are friends you can trust, and friends who will turn on you. Friends you can share with, and friends you guard what you share. There are friends who will go to hell and back for you, and friends who will stab you in the back.

The bible speaks of friends- Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother NIV This verse speaks of a true friend, one who will be there no matter what. This is the deepest level of friendship.

I am on Face Book, the social network site. I have found that being on there helps me connect with my friends, reacquaint with some past ones, and connect with new ones. One of the things currently going on at the site is "ranking friends." Nominate your top friends for the top 10. I sometimes play along, and will usually try to pick out a different group in doing so. When you have played along with the game, it will allow you to see your ranking. You can bump yourself up, and bump others down, without them ever knowing about it. Yeah, I've had those kind of friends before. No thanks, I'm not going to play the ranking game, at least not on myself.

It is also somewhat ironic that there is a link when you go to the friendship game thing that says something like "4 of your friends think you are an idiot." Needless to say, that's another game. But I find it humorous, because I know there are some so called friends of mine that think I am an idiot. :)

I have learned that to have friends I must become one. I continue to work on that. Not everyone thinks you're the greatest. But some do. Your husband, wife, mom, dad, son, daughter. That grandchild. That child at the soccer game. That teen you went out of your way to befriend. To some, you're the lifeline. No, not everyone knows your value. But your true friends do. And there are others waiting to discover your friendship, who need it. You will help them. You will be to them what is defined in the above description from dictionary.com.

There are times when I wonder if taking the time to write these assorted thoughts on my blog are worth the effort. I don't want to write to vent my frustrations, although I have done that. I want to help someone whom I may never see. I want to somehow shine a light, even if it is revealing a past or present pain in my life. My goal is to tell people both near and far that there is a God in heaven who understands, and is present to help them. And I want to assure them that they are not alone. I tell them from a perspective of a small town pastor who has endured trials and pressures of life, and somehow, by the grace of God, has survived.

Enough of my ramblings this morning. Going to get another cup of coffee. Need a friend? Hit me up. I can always use another one!