I've been thinking about some of my previous posts about friendships, and realized that it may come off as if I'm a very lonely person with no friends, or that all of my friends are jerks.    Neither of these conclusions would be accurate, and I want to make sure I clear that up!  One of the days of study this week in my Bible study was about how important our relationships are in life; how we must have the foundation of belief in God as the basis of any relationship, or it's doomed to fall.  God has been very gracious to me in always sending friends into my life at the right time.  Tuesday afternoon I actually found myself giggling literally like a schoolgirl as I sat with some other moms--new friends-to-be--in the back of the room during the second week of our children's Classical Conversations grammar/writing class.  The tutor was explaining about first person, mood, tense, and all those other sometimes confusing things relating to verbs when I realized she was using the phrase "I have fallen," which became "I have been falling."  That, of course, is not a phrase one uses on a regular basis, and suddenly it struck me as hysterical because I felt as though that would be an accurate description of how I felt trying to keep all the information she was giving us straight in my head!  Help--I have been falling (presently, in the past, and certainly in the future) trying to do this grammar work!    We moms sat off to the side, furiously scribbling notes along with our children and exchanging faces that said "Do you have any idea what in the world she's talking about?" and also "It's 2 in the afternoon.  I've been up since 6:30AM, had to actually get out of my pajamas and put makeup on today before I came here to work on all this memory stuff, and I forgot to get a triple espresso double shot with extra sugar and whipped cream after lunch and now I'm about to fall asleep--HELP!"  Commiseration in a common goal and struggle is a great basis for friendship, and I'm so happy to be making new relationships with all these mom-heroes of mine who teach their own littles (and bigs!) at home.

   I also have to mention my dear friend K, who is truly a gift of God to me.  I'd just watched my closest friendship dissolve when she stepped in, and it was a lovely surprise.  She's intelligent, creative, cute, loves music, and sings beautifully, and we had gone to the same church for years without really getting to know how many interests we had in common.  She's now my scrapbooking buddy and my children's piano teacher as well as my girls' Classical Conversations tutor, attends all the family birthday parties, and my 3 year old actually drew a picture of my dog and K last week when asked to draw a picture of her family.    We collaborate on lessons, plan vacations and sing in the car on trips together, and I'm very grateful for her sunny influence on my life!

   And of course there are the girls who have I've been blessed to be in Bible studies with.  Something about opening God's Word together and really getting into it just reveals our hearts, doesn't it?  I have been honored to watch the Lord work on painful areas and also grant extensive wisdom to so many ladies and that's fun!  Most of the precious friends I have right now are those I've looked into God's Word with on a regular basis.  We are all busy, but when it's someone's birthday or there's a need, out comes my list of Bible study friends so we can gather for a fun movie or for tea or to pray.  The ladies studying Can We Talk on Wednesday nights with me right now are precious and I'm sure God is going to reveal new friends in that class, too.  We have the right foundation!  I've realized that because there have been hurtful experiences with friendship in the past, I tend to keep myself somewhat walled in, and don't reach out enough.  That's something I have to work on as I trust God to bring people into my life, knowing that He has a reason even for those hurts, and that if I don't reach out, I'll miss some of the precious sisters He wanted to bring into my life to teach me something. 

   I have to share the words of this song with you as I consider friendship.  When I heard it for the first time, it immediately brought tears to my eyes, and 2 years later, it still does!  If any of you get a chance to buy the CD or download it on itunes, go for it--or go watch the musical, Wicked, for a great visual on the realities of female friendship.  (note: don't read the book *unless* you can find a seriously edited version, which I assume is impossible--yikes!  WONDERFUL character development; way too many scenes I had to skip my eyes over!)  The song is called "For Good," and if you've ever had a friend, you can relate, I think!  In the song, the two lead women are singing, hence the titles.

(Glinda) I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba) It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda) Because I knew you

(Both) I have been changed for good

(Elphaba) And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the thing I've done you blame me for

(Glinda) But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both) And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda) Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba) Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both) Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda) And because I knew you...

(Elphaba) Because I knew you...

(Both) Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good.