Friends Are A Gift From God

Tawana, Becky and Lynn
We think alike. Sometimes we show up in things that are the same color, without planning. We send each other the same cards. We laugh at the same jokes. We need each other. We share history. We share the same faith. We share the same Savior. Although, we don't share the same blood, and are not really sisters, we share the same families, children, and parents.

I heard once that if you have one true friend in life then you should count yourself lucky. I count myself very lucky. There were four of us at one time until cancer came and took one of us way too early. We stood at her casket and couldn't believe she was gone. We comforted her children who were without a mother and later were honored to be the three mothers at the weddings when those children wed. We have been through so much together. We met as teenagers, young newlyweds. We have coached each other through labor, through children in the terrible two's, through the teenage years, and watched each other's children get married. We have become grandmothers together. There is not one remembered memory that I have that they have not been a part of.

We love the same music, movies, and books. We decorate our homes the same, we like the same paintings. We sometimes think each other's thoughts. We are different yet we are the same. When one of us is weak the others are strong. We are accountability partners, prayer partners, and sisters in Christ. We have sung in a trio for over 20 years. Our voices are so in tune with each other that we rarely have to practice. We have sung at weddings, funerals and church functions.

They have sat by my bedside in the hospital and prayed for me. And questioned the doctors when my own family couldn't find the words through fear and grief. We have walked through shadows together. There have been marital problems, children problems, divorce, and death. We have laughed together, cried together and grown together. I don't remember angry words every passing between us. Constructive critiscm yes, but only out of love! And points well taken. There are certainly things that I could not have survived if it had not been for them. For their unfailing love, their unconditional love, and their hope that we will all be in Heaven together, I'll always be grateful.

I have 2 beautiful real life sisters that I share the same things with too and they are my greatest joys and strengths. However we don't live in the same town. We though have the same parents, the same ancestory, the same blood. They are remarkable women of Christ. My personal strength. I love them dearly. I'll share them with you soon. Yet, these 2 remarkable friends are my sisters too. And I love them too. It's hard to distinguish what God has given me. How lucky can I be?

And someday if someone asks me how long we have been friends I'll say, "Oh us? For as long as I can remember."