Life: A Tapestry of Friendships

Friends are like siblings God didn't put in our families but gives us the opportunity to earn them. Family members are sometimes friends.

A friend will be there to cry with you in bad times; laugh with you in good times; strategize with you in tough times; gets you moving when you are being slow; tells you off when you are being unreasonable... And all other clichés you've heard of.

Friends are there for a season - your whole life season, single season, divorce season, career season, loneliness season. I've had all sorts of friends and though some may no longer be friends I thank God for their contributions to the season.

• The friends that helped me through my broke days in university - shared their meals when I had none.
• The friends that studied with me through my professional qualification - woke me up at night to study.
• The friends that stand by me when I'm low and standby to hold my hands and lift me up - praying for my health, advising & encouraging through career lows.
• The friends that thought me worthy of their friendship even when my life was without direction - talking to me about my wrong life choices, risking my wrath and exposing their hidden weaknesses.

Those friends were and are a part of the tapestry of my life.

I'm currently crocheting an afghan of 11 colours - grey, blue,copper, burgundy, brown, teal, sea green, baby pink, light yellow, magenta, lime green. Some of those colours are vibrant and some are dull; I love some and like some; some standout and some blend in with others. These colours all remind me of my friends and collectively of my life. A mix of experiences.

I am thankful to God for the friends that have helped shape the person I am today. I am thankful that although I fought some of them, in hindsight I see them as friends. I am thankful for second chances with some - to reconnect with an understanding of what they mean to me.

Thank-you friends - Seasonal or Forever friends.

(I wrote this blog on a weekend away with friends and I had them in mind while writing. You know yourselves and so do some of those I have referred to above.)