Bridging The Changing Circumstances Of Life

Bridging the Changing Circumstances of Life

A friend is always loyal, and a [sister] is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17

After Bethany got married, she no longer met her single girlfriends for dinner at a local restaurant. When they called, she was too busy to return the calls. Preoccupied with married life, her husband, and other couples, she didn’t have time for her old friends. As the months went on, however, she and her husband went through a stressful time when the company he worked for was sold and his position was eliminated. Bethany grew lonely and realized that she missed women with whom she could be herself, women with whom she had history and with whom she could laugh or cry without feeling uncomfortable.

Just as friendship must extend across the miles, it must also bridge the changing circumstances of life. As you pack your boxes to move to a different company or plan the wedding you have longed for, be careful not to mentally dispose of your deep friendships with those you’re leaving behind. Don’t leave your girlfriends—including your single ones—in the dust. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in excitement over the guy you’ve long dreamed of that you exclude old friends from your life. Instead, meet for lunch. Plan a girls’ movie night. And whether you change your last name or just your address, avoid leaving a string of broken or neglected friendships behind.

God doesn’t give us scores of close friends throughout our lives. That’s why we should treat those relationships with such care. It costs something to be a friend: It takes time, patience, affection, strength, and love. But the blessing of a lasting friendship is more than worth the effort it takes, and the friendship gives back to us far more than we can imagine. —CHERI

Change is such a way of life today. I’m thankful, Lord, that I don’t have to leave my friends behind when the circumstances of my life change. What a great gift you have given me in my girlfriends! Please continue to knit our hearts together in love no matter where we go.

To have a friend is to have one of the sweetest gifts that life can bring: to be a friend is to have a solemn and tender education of soul from day to day. A friend gives us confidence for life. A friend remembers us when we have forgotten ourselves, or neglected ourselves.

—ANNA ROBERTSON BROWN LINDSAY (1864–1948), THEOLOGIAN AND AUTHOR