Friends

True friendship is the strongest human relationship of all. I've spent a lot of time thinking about friendship for the past month. I guess you don't realize how much you're blessed with until you have to leave it behind. The past few weeks God has been talking to me about what it means to be a real friend.
Our society today has gotten the meaning of friendship all wrong. To the world friendship means a relationship where its all about selfish gain. What can my friend do for me? Will they increase my social status? Do they make me feel good? But I wanted to know what God had to say about friends. One of my favourite examples of friendship in the Bible is that of David and Jonathan's. In 1 Samuel 20:17 It says that Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. The Message even goes as far as to say that Jonathan loved David more than his own soul!

So basically the way God see's friendship is something that is so pure and holy that many people never really begin to understand what it means to be a real friend. To be a friend you have to place someone before yourself. As a friend you want the very best for the other person. It's a decision to love and cherish them no matter what. It also means that when you reach the stage in friendship where you completely trust the person. you also have the duty to lead your friend in the direction God wants them to be even if it means letting them gently know that the place they are at right now is not where they should be. Being a friend is not an easy task for us. As selfish little humans we tend to love to talk about ourselves and our problems but I think its time we stopped being so self obsessed and begin to focus on someone else. Friendship is such an amazing gift. I honestly don't know what I'd do without my friends. I think I'm guilty for not appreciating all of you as much as I should.

So to all my friends I love and cherish you very much and even though I'm leaving you will always hold a place in my heart. My brown crew: Lani you have such an inner strength that I admire. I love you and I want to thank you for always encouraging me. You've pushed me to do bigger things.
Sandra, four years of watching you grow and mature. I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate you. You are so special and whatever you set your heart out to do you will do with the best of your ability.Follow your dreams and always keep your eyes fixed on Him. Natalia, you have changed so much and I can't tell you how incredibly proud of you I am. You are beautiful both inside and out and don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise. Your value lies in the way your heavenly father sees you!
Nicole! I am going to miss your laugh like crazy! You brighten everyday for me and I love hearing to your funny stories. Only you would dance in the hallways and I love you for that. Dora, you are the one I admire and respect the most. You are such an example to me. Your love for Jesus shines through everything you do and I am so blessed to have you as my friend. You are wise my friend and I thank God for you! Keep loving Him the way you do.
Tina, my driver! Haha I love you so much. You are gorgeous, smart and kind and I am so happy that you are my friend. I’m going to miss you so much especially as I’m going to be the only one you can’t visit .

And now my lovely TACF crew!! Angelica, my sister forever!! I've known you the longest and I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my friend. I remember when we first met you were so shy and sweet. I remember you asked me to be your friend. I was so happy that day because somehow I knew that God had brought a very special person into my life. You are beautiful and the sweetest person I know. You and I will always be friends because we've gone through so much together. Nothing can separate us and I want you to know that no matter the distance I will always love you and you will always be my Angelica!
Rachelle, I only got to know you recently but I am so grateful for you. You are so encouraging and God has such amazing plans for your life. Your heart is so pure and your love for Jesus blows me away. May you always have a heart of worship and give it all to Him because He is all that matters.
Mel, I love you! You are kind, loving and every time I see you I am so happy to be able to call you my friend. God has given you so much wisdom and insight that is way beyond someone your age. You are truly a woman of God and when I look at your face I see Jesus. You are also an incredible worshipper. Of all the people I know you are the most humble and that is so refreshing in this world where everyone is filled with pride.
Maeghan, you brighten every room you walk into. I love your infectious smile and the way you are so passionate about seeing your friends come to know Jesus. You are someone I trust and value and I am going to miss you terribly.
Miranda, you are so lovely! You are incredibly sweet and God has given you such an amazing talent to capture the beauty of his creation.
James! You are so freaking amazing!!! I am going to miss you and your random comments. Now I won't have anyone to sing renditions of Outkast with. Keep smiling buddy and go for all your dreams. One day I be able to call you Dr. James and just for you I'll let you tell me all the gruesome details of guts and blood and whatever strange things you enjoy.
Brendan, I admire your heart more than anything else. You are such a complex and deep thinker and such a passionate lover of Jesus. I am so glad I got to know you. There are so many things about you that God is going to use for big things and I'm so excited for your future. I will miss our chats but I know that even though our time was short I met someone who was definitely worth getting to know.
Ashley P, I love you man! You are so funny and talented and beautiful and most of all your love Jesus! I’m going to miss you tons and tons. I love your random funny faces and your voice and your laugh and basically I love everything about you!
Sarah, you have such an incredible sense of humour. It definitely runs in the family. I loved getting to know you in this short time. God is the one who has placed that passion in your heart for the unborn who are given no voice. I can already see that He has something huge planned for your life. Keep going strong for Jesus and you already shine so brightly for him.
John Pditty, even though you tease me mercilessly I think you’re so great! You’re funny, smart, tall, white trying to be black I mean come on whats not to love??? I’m going to miss you so much! You better keep in touch or else you know about those men in black who will be at your doorstep.
Samuele, first of all let me say that you are every girls dream boy! Lol sorry couldn’t resist teasing you. I love your heart of worship and how you love Jesus. I’ve sort of adopted you as my brother even though you don’t know that but I’m letting you know now. I am going to miss playing on the same worship team as you and our talks. You are such a great guy and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for you.
Last but not least Leena, I love you! You have such an exciting future ahead of you and I can’t wait to one day work with you. I am going to miss you a lot because you have taught me so much about listening to what God has to say about our lives. You will always have a place in my heart.
For all those I haven’t included in this I love you just as much and want you to know that your friendship has meant so much to me. Here’s one more verse about friendship. John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” I love you!