Running in Circles, Chasing Our Tails

Day 16. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

This question made me kind of sad. People come and go. I've lost a lot of 'friends' that I was once very close to and for a variety of reasons, God didn't allow those friendships to continue. It sounds cliche to say "Friends may come and go but Jesus is always there" because most of the time, the person telling you that is a little too bubbly and perky and ignoring the fact that even though this is true, it is still pretty painful when we lose people close to us.

Take it from someone who feels very keenly the loss of people and relationships that were important to me and played a big role in how God developed me into who I am today - it hurts but God does have a plan for those relationships. He may have placed someone in your path and meant for your souls to be touched by one another at just the right time and only for that short period of time. You don't know the impact He has allowed you to have on the people who pass in and out of your life. Don't take for granted the people you can laugh with and cry to today because maybe they won't be there in the morning. Enjoy the time you have now, thank God for them constantly, and show them how much they mean to you.

"Nobody said it was easy

It's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh, take me back to the start"

("The Scientist", Coldplay)

It's Empty in the Valley of Your Heart

Day 11. A picture of something you hate.

I seriously hate and loathe spiders. Especially the big, hairy ones. In fact, I'm so scared of them that I debated not including a picture for today's post because I was so reluctant to do a Google image search and see something gross and scary!

In other news, I got to spend a few hours talking with someone who went through a situation similar to something I went through and it was so refreshing to know I'm not alone or nuts! And also to have another person understand exactly how frustrating, hard and sad it was to go through that. Here's to old friends - may their lives be turned towards the Lord and walking in His ways - and to new friendship - may they encourage each other to be all they can be for God and share many a laugh together over the serious, the painful and over all commonplace happenings in life!

"Cause I have other things to fill my time

You take what is yours and I'll take mine

Now let me at the truth

Which will refresh my broken heart"

("The Cave", Mumford & Sons)

Forever Young

Day 5. A picture of your favorite memory.

This is a picture of our New Year's Party...held on January 2, 2005. We kicked the year off with this tremendous wacky party - the first in a line of funky gathering ideas during the end of our senior year in high school and the breaking up of Our Gang as people began going away to college.

We watched the ball drop, ate a fabulous meal and drank lots and lots and LOTS of sparkling cider.

An absolute success and fun time for us all. I miss those days when life was a lot simpler but the dumb things that came up seemed like the end of the world. God put us together and had our lives cross for various reasons and I really can say "It was the best of times, it was the worst of time". Here's to an awesome group of friends through high school and to the ones who got away, we miss that bond and keep you in prayer.

"And when you finally fly away I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime, no one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young"
("Forever Young", Rod Stewart)