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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Five-Year Plan

Last fall in Sunday School, the Bishopric gave the most amazing 5th-Sunday Lesson. It was based on the talk "The Merciful Obtain Mercy" given by President Uchtdorf in April General Conference.

It was the lesson that I'd hoped to hear months ago in our previous ward, and it was touching.

The Bishopric played excerpts of President Uchtdorf's remarks and then commented, applying it to our ward. They also asked a sister in our ward to share some thoughts that she had given in a talk a few years ago. It was truly inspiring.

This lesson was one of those lessons.

The ones that were meant specifically for you. For me.

While the lesson was directed more to being kind within the ward and towards each other, I saw so many more meanings than that!

To my sweetheart.

To my family.

To my little girl.

It was wonderful.



But it helped me to define a part of my personality.

Friendship.

What it really means. To me.

Throughout my life I have had lots of friends. I'm fairly outgoing and I try to befriend everyone. (And try to stay as down to earth as possible.)

Naturally, some friends are closer than others, but throughout my life I've had friends in the various stages.

But it's the stages that, at times, baffle me.

Over the past two years, Ryan and I have tried to develop friendships with various families. Some have blossomed into great relationships, while others have left us wanting. The wanting has left me confused.

And then I realized, it was the stages.

For me friendship is getting to know someone, having conversations, spending time together, visiting casually... you name it.

It's easy. Uncomplicated. Natural.

It's also very easy to pick up where things were left off yesterday or a decade ago.

But I realize it's not like that for some. For many actually.

I've started to realize that for many, friendships exist simply out of convenience. These are usually friends who are in the same ward, neighborhood, classes, etc. You get to know each other, but after you part ways, you lose contact, interest. You're inconvenient. 

Ryan and I have talked about this recently and realized that some of those convenient friendships--those that left us wanting--have also made us feel a little used. (For no particular reason, that's just the feeling.)

That's when I realized that to me friendship is being a friend, when it's inconvenient.

To me, friendships that stay alive and rekindle with ease after a long period of absence are true friendships.

To me, those friends make me feel valuable. Important. Loved. They set an example, lift you up, and care.

As we've talked about friendships, we've thought about some special people in Washington (multiple), Orem, LA, Singapore, Russia, and Grenada... You know who you are. Let's start putting together our five-year plan to build our dream houses on the same street. (And in the meantime, let's plan a cruise!)

1 comments:

Bailee said...

SOmetimes I feel the same way and sometimes I feel like I'm the "convenient friend" not by choice of course. I love you girl and I hope maybe you'd let me have a house on your street:)

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