What Is A Friend? She Is My Sister...

I have to say, it was a pain in the butt trying to find pictures that showed our personalities while still being blogger PG rated.

With that being said, lets move on to the point of my post.

Which I kind of forget. Looking at these pictures distracts me - who is that crazy lady with the mullet? Oh yeah, she's Sista Wild Child - who thought it would be fun, (because she knew nobody there) to sport the redneck look to Speedracer Sista's family reunion . She got on real well with an old uncle.

Do you have a friend who you feel completely at ease with? Who you can say the wildest wacked out things to and she'd actually be able to relate to you because she is just as wacked out and wild? Do you have a friend that you can act this way with, and for the most part be able to act that way, to that degree, only in her company? Do you have a friend who after reading a bad blog post, or receiving a bad message on the answering machine, or reading an email full of your vomit, will call you as soon as possible to see if you're okay? Do you have a friend who encourages you and gives you accountability?

I've been blessed with a few. These are my Sisters. I've prayed to have sisters. I've prayed to have dear friends. And God's been good in answering me. I couldn't imagine a closer knit group of women. I don't live close to them - they live about 40 minutes away. And to a girl who hates driving 25 minutes into York, 40 minutes is a cross country trek. But we call each other, we email, and we commit to get together once a month and get away overnight a couple times a year.

One time, after hubby and I had a "heated discussion", I received call after call from each of these girls. He thought he was in hot water with them! (he had a feeling they were calling just to make sure I was physically okay - which is such a hoot!) If one girl calls, I'm not too surprised when the others do. We call in groupings it seems, although we don't plan it to work out that way.

A couple weeks ago Chuck Swindol talked about friendship. He told me that an intimate friend can be characterized by four main points ...

* A voluntary willingness to sacrifice (& is there to assist)
* A loyal defense against others (speaks well of friend & defends him)
* A complete freedom to be yourself
* A source of constant encouragement

I have been blessed with more than just these three friends that can closely fit those characteristics, but with these three girls - these characteristics fit the best.

If you don't have a friend who has these qualities, ask God for one. I think this is a prayer he would love to answer with a "yes". Because we were made for community. We were not made to live life without a deep friendship or two.