Friends Who Became Family – A host of good people!

I have been blessed with a good family – from childhood until now – they always make me feel supported, loved, and treasured! As we get older, though distance separates us geographically, it still does not weaken the bonds forged at an early age and maintained through adulthood.
 
There is that famous saying, “you can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.” While that saying is true from a biological viewpoint, my life experience has definitely taught me that friends can become like family! What a gift that can be when it happens! In the parishes in which I have been involved, through the years, I have met wonderful people in each place, and they have truly become like family because of the way that they have let me into their life /family events and by the way that they have been personally helpful, supportive, and life-giving to me!
 
Too numerous to name, let me just say that from each priestly/episcopal assignment, I have met a few people who have continued to journey with me. I could not be more blessed than that! Although it is impossible to keep in touch with all the friends God has sent into my life, I do frequently thank God for their loving presence and ask him to bless them. And then there are also those beautiful people I encountered before beginning ordained ministry. Yes, I did have a life way back then, and some of those “early friends” are still very present in my life today!
 
It has been said that you are lucky if you have one or two real friends in your lifetime. That is certainly understandable if you mean people with whom you spend long periods of time and are so intimately related that you are known by them, and they know you in ways that no one else knows. That being quite accurate, there is also a level of friendship that can exist which you can develop over time that enables you to know that some people really do care for you as you care for them. You may not be in touch as frequently as you would like, but the conversation picks up where you left off the last time. Those friends have not only contributed to my well-being but also, they are true and loyal no matter the circumstances.
 
Whether it was losing family members through death, or personal illness, or other trying events through life… what a wonderful cadre of people whom I am privileged to call friends who have come to my rescue, offering their time, and reaching out in a loving and supportive way. They have made my burdens a little bit lighter, and I pray that I may also have been there for them in their hour of need. That mutual interchange of presence and support is what makes my life so enriched.
 
Truly, friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief! To have been so blessed in life makes me ever so grateful to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from whose friendship we derive the real essence of our existence. To be in friendship with God gives real meaning and purpose to all our human friendships! Blessed be God forever!