Friendships

Today I was downloading a lot of books, chapters, whatever from a friend from school. Another friend scanned them when we were down in California (he was only taking the morning class and we were quite happy to have him do some of our research for us in the afternoons!). After I downloaded the files, I decided to save the emails as well as a sort of back up, and also to make the research accessible when I'm not at home. To do this I created another file in my hotmail account. When I did that, I noticed the files that were there and started glancing through them at the emails I thought were worth saving.

Some of the files had emails from many years back, from in and around my university days. I saw names I had almost forgotten from friends that are mostly just memories now. I haven't seen some of them since those days and haven't heard from them in almost as long. Even the ones I've reconnected with on facebook are not really friends; they are friendships based on shared memories only. Yet, once upon a time, we were friends for a season. It seemed a bit sad at first, that we could be friends and then become little more than memories. Then I kept looking and found other names: people I knew that far back and still know today, and it set me to thinking more.

Here's what I think: God gives us friends at different times and for different purposes. Some friends are only ever intended to be for a season, whether for their sake or for ours or both. And when that time is over, we move on and become memories. It isn't a bad thing; it's just the way life is. Other people stay in our lives, sometimes coming and going, but always based on more than just memories: we share today with them. Either way, God has a reason and we need to enjoy and cherish and love our friends while we have them.