To Live Richly

This weekend I spent time with some of my close friends from college. Girls who for a couple years I lived in very close quarters with, spent evenings and weekends with, laughed with, did crazy things with, and ate insane amounts of ice cream with.

But we're not in college anymore. We all live in different towns, work different jobs, and have different daily lives that do not involve each other. Some of us live on our own, some back with parents, and some with husbands. We're not quite as mischievous as we used to be, or energetic for that matter (bed time was significantly earlier than it used to be). I also don't think we eat quite as much as we used to, not one ounce of ice cream was consumed. We're not all single anymore; life isn't quite as up in the air as it used to be.

Some things haven't changed...the main thing being that these girls continue to add a richness to my life. I suppose all close, healthy relationships do this, but as I think back on the years I spent sharing life with these girls, I think of some of the best years I've had thus far. Life was rich. Life had a level of meaningfulness to it that I hadn't experienced before my time at Purdue. It had nothing to do with being wealthy or successful, we weren't extremely poised nor "had things together", we didn't live in a very glamorous place, that's for sure. It was all about relationship. Always someone to lay around and eat animal crackers with, always someone to go to the co-rec with or get a den pop. Always someone to hash out life with. Yes, life was rich.

We all knew that wasn't reality. We lived in a bubble for those years at Purdue, and I think that was okay. Because suddenly we have more responsibility and less support (or at least different support). I'm so thankful though, that I learned how good relationships are for my spirit, because it's easy for me to forget that. I can be so independent and get into my routine, that I can forget how much I need relationships with people. I can forget that even though I'm "fine" by myself, life really is better with close friends. I can easily lose motivation to keep up relationships or put effort into building new ones, so it's good to be reminded.

Thanks girls for adding so much meaning to my life; inspiration even...

5 comments:

Linda said...

You are blessed and we thank God for each one of these special girls!

leah said...

oh wow...

tear. or should i say tears. this got me girl.

thankful that our roots run deep. you are all some of my greatest joys!

i.love.you. :)

Sara Huber said...

Neat post. Good friends are SUCH a gift.

Tricky said...

Wonderfully said; and I'm with Leah...it got me too :) I'm so thankful for 6 beautiful ladies, inside and out. Love you all!

Christen Leigh said...

I loved this and loved being with you all this weekend!