Dear Friend,
What's on your mind. You don't laugh the way you used to, but I've noticed how you cry. Dear friend, I feel so helpless. I see you sit in silence and you face new pain each day. I wish there was something I could do. I know you don't feel like pretty, even though you are. But it wasn't your beauty that found room in my heart. Dear friend, you are so precious. Dear friend, I'm here for you, I know that you don't talk too much. But we can share this day anew. Dear friend, please don't feel like you're alone. There is someone who is praying for you. Praying for your peace of mind. Hoping those missing words and confidence are what you find. Dear Friend, you are so precious. Dear friend, I'm praying for you...

Friendship

I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us know or have at least heard 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. The verse itself never seems to get old as I always find myself looking at it a little differently each time I hear it. How cool is it that we have been given a sort of guide for love that not only applies to our families, signaificant others, brothers/sisters in christ, and our friends. The last one in particular is what I've been looking at differently as of late. Why not experiement a little and take out the word love and replace it with friendship. Instead of having a guide for love we have a guide for how friendship works.

“Friendship is patient, friendship is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Friendship does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Friendship never fails…”

Now it opens by saying that friendship is patient and kind, not always easy concepts to wrap our heads around. We live in a fast-paced society, and most strive for perfection, so it does not take very much to irritate us or make us impatient waiting for the end result. Someone asked you to wait for them, or to give them a little time, or maybe they are taking awhile to figure something out/understand what they are saying. And we're supposed to be patient?! Even when our buttons are being pushed and we are frusterated we're still supposed to have patience?! Yeah... I'll be the first to admit that I get tripped up here all too often. But take a second to think about it, how many times have we done the very same thing and someone else gave us the time to do whatever it was we needed.

Next we are told that friendship does not envy or boast, and it isn't proud. Ever find yourself comparing yourself to a friend. Wanting something that they have, or wishing you could do something as well as they can? Or maybe you are the better one because you can do something that they can't, or something comes more naturally to you. And you find yourself feeling a little prideful just because you can be. Not the best way to go about making or keep friends. Sure we are always going to have moments were we are prideful, envious, or jealous because we are human but that can't be the basis for doing something. But here's the thing, and get ready because it is a BIG secret. --> God made us all different for a reason! If we could all do the same things how boring would that be?! it's okay to not have the same things and abilities that our friends do, it's supposed to be that way.

We have a tendency to confuse what we can get from our friends/what they can do for us with what we can give to/do for them. Somewhere along the lines we created this idea that friendship is about our own selves and our needs, when really it should be directed outwardly towards others. Friendship is a two way street so we can't always be taking, taking, taking. We have to do a little giving, giving, giving to match it up. And while this sounds great in theory it is love that requires us to go against our own inclinations. It is not always a natural feeling to want to do/give/love/invest outwardly for others, instead of inwardly towards ourselves and our desires. If we use the verse as our guide and work to become more Christ-like we will learn to be a friend without expecting anything for ourselves in return.

Did you know? round 2

- My birthday is in 13 days :)
-I start half of my mornings with coffee, and the other half by waking up to construction.
-Mixed CD's are like the way to my heart or just a way to brighten my day 10fold.
-The first app I downloaded on my blackberry was for the tigers.
-I recently did an overhaul of my ipod - bringing back the Goo Goo Dolls, the Appleseed Cast, Joshua Radin, Florence and the Machine, Lesley Roy, Johnny Craig, Owl City, Headway, and Needtobreathe. *This is a big step for me.
-I chopped my hair off and while I love the cut I may be regretting my decision.
-I think I'm going to re-learn how to play the piano this summer.
-It took me until my senior year of college to be okay with wearing sweatpants around/out-and-about.
-3/4 of my closet went to goodwill or to friends this year, but I still have enough shoes and purses to fill up the space.
-If I had to marry a baseball player I'd pick Brian Wilson (I love that bearded man).
-I have a strange obsession? with owls or rather owl stuff.
-Blogging my hair everyday for a year is my most idiotic/brilliant idea ever.
-I have a permanent tan line on my thumb from my spoon ring. I have worn it everyday for the last 3 years.
-I associate songs with people.
-I got very used to having you in my life.
-Living with 8 other girls has it's moments.
-I'm very ready for graduation, not so ready for unemployment or having to take the GRE.
-Nicknames make life better.
-Starbucks is like my home away from home.
-I miss roadtripping every other weekend.
-I can name all of the MLB teams just for fun.
-I associate spring time with baseball, but fall is still my favorite season.
-I have applied for an excessive number of jobs in the last 3 weeks.
-I miss my best friends.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Sometimes songs says things better than we ever could. Because of this we picks songs that explain whatever is going on and we listen to them over and over and over. Maybe I'm the only person that does this but because of it I have playlists for almost any/every situation. I've been listening to Joshua Radin a lot lately, and have decided that this song sums up life at the moment.

I've been down this road before
I walk out the door
Leave you on the floor

Sometimes you run and hide
Your foolish pride's
What keeps me from
Giving you more

So the best thing I can give to you
Is for me to go
Leave you alone
Cause you got growing up to do...

Mustard yellow, missed exits, and owls

sometimes all you need is time with the people that know you best.

That being said, these last couple days were not only a great end to break but exactly what I needed. Shopping. How I Met Your Mother. Pictures. Conversations/Discussions. Blog Posts. Memories. Phone Calls. Advice. Diet Coke Brownies. Hair Dye. Missing Exits. You get the idea.