Best Friends

My best friend Julie posted this on her blog and I wanted to copy it here. We do miss seeing them as much as we use to but when we get together it is like we have never been apart. They are the kind of friends that you can just totally be yourself with. You know, the kind of friend that you can know is coming over for dinner but you don't get stressed at all because even if the house is a disaster, it's Julie and Bruce and they will love us no matter what. I am so excited about this week and the new memories we will make together at the lake. We are so blessed to have friends like them.

(No, we weren’t actually *in* a Colgate Ad but that’s how the 4 of us lovingly refer to this photo. Betcha can’t guess why. HA! Is it that obvious!?)

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Not because my teeth look whiter than they have ever been or ever will be, but because it’s of our best friends Cindi and Allen.

Ours is one of those friendships that was obviously Divinely ordained. Cindi and I met in Jr. High School. We were cheerleaders together - “Go Beavers!” (Yes, that was the name of the mascot. I don’t make this stuff up, people!) and we were skating rink buddies. We had sleepovers at each others’ houses and we went to the mall and movies together on Friday Nights. Most importantly, though, we were in the clique together. Now this was not just *a* clique, we were THE clique. You see, we were BEST FRIENDS FOREVER with a group of about 6 girls and “The Clique” was the name we gave ourselves. (Just a fun aside - Cindi’s brother was the school photographer and I was on the yearbook staff that year. Our pictures are all over our 8th grade annual. :o)

We moved on to High School together and cheered together in 9th grade but after that, Cindi moved to a private school. We remained friends but didn’t keep in touch. Until one day…..

When I was about 23 years old, God started professing His love for me so loudly to me that I could no longer ignore Him. I remember spending almost a week holed up in my bedroom reading The Gospels and Genesis with a pen and legal pad and really just dissecting His Word and reveling in how much He loved me. God opened my eyes to truths that I had heard forever but had never really embraced personally. He rescued me from the darkness in which I had been wandering and during that time, he led me to fellowship with other believers. The church that I started going to had a great Sunday School class for singles. I was meeting people my age who were fun to be around AND were seeking to Glorify God - a new concept for me at that time - and it was truly a blessing in my life. One day in the worship service I glanced over and saw a familiar face. It was my Jr. High “Clique Sister” and she was holding her beautiful 4 month old little girl. We hugged and started catching up on our lives and she introduced me to her sweet daughter Savannah and her husband Allen. I went out to lunch with them after church and it was like we’d never missed a minute. I started hanging out with them often and Cindi and Allen were both very encouraging to me in my walk with God.

A few months later I met Bruce in Sunday School and - as they say - the rest is history! Bruce and Allen became fast friends and we spent almost every weekend together.

The picture above was taken by Cindi’s brother who went on to become a professional photographer and would occasionally call on us to model for some shot that he needed. When he gave us a copy of this picture we all thought it was hilarious (especially once I got going with the teeth whitening feature in Paint Shop.)

These days, we don’t see them near as often as we used to and certainly not as much as we would like but we’re going to spend a few days at the lake together this coming week. The last time were there with them was 10 years ago, right after Bruce and I got married.

You can bet next Friday’s flashback will have a few “then and now” photos of our trip(s).

I’m so thankful for Good Friends that God puts in our paths, aren’t you?

Happy Weekend!