Seasons in the Sun-Part 2

Please read Part 1 of this post first, under 1/9/09-


Last Sunday night, I sat in my living room across from a friend I hadn't spent time with in eons. She surprised me that night by just "showing up," and I was so elated. I may be exaggerating a little here, but that statement, "a friend I hadn't spent time with in eons", could describe just about anyone in my life. You could insert any friend's name in that sentence and it would be true. We spent a good hour and a half sharing morsels of one another's lives....engaging in healthy reciprocating conversation like a tennis match of words, thoughts, and simply life. It was unbelievably refreshing and I felt so energized as she left. She had given the unexpected gift of time and conversation to me that night....and I didn't even have to beg her for it. It felt good. Really good.

One of the topics we touched on that evening, was this concept of "seasons of friendship" which I was referring to in yesterday's post. It seems that I am not "alone" in feeling "alone." In fact, there are countless of us in this current stage of life that say we feel alone. Our lives are jammed packed full of activities, obligations, and schedules. Before we know it, every idea that seemed good at the time has now become just another plate to keep spinning in the air. And we are overwhelmed. Our heads hit our pillows each night and we praise our God for the gift of sleep, only to be rudely interrupted by our morning alarm, seemingly just minutes later. And then we ask ourselves, "How did I get here? And where did everybody go???"

There are no simple answers to this situation we find ourselves in as mothers of school-age children and the lack of time we have for deep, meaningful friendships. We are here, and we don't like it....but what are we going to do about it? I can tell you one thing we are not going to do. We are not going to sit around watching this one life which God has given us pass us by without the blessing of "iron sharpening iron" friendships. We are going to look around and reconnect with these friendships that were so very important to us in our past, when our babies were young and with us all the time. We are going to let people know how much we love them and appreciate them. We are once again going to laugh with them, and cry with them. We are going to live life with them....it just may have to look a little differently. And at the end of the day, that same weary head will hit the pillow, instead with a spirit refreshed by the blessing of having others caring about your life and you doing the same for them.

A Side Note of Applicability- Tonight, some old friends who are longing to reconnect with one another are going to see a movie and go out to eat. Maybe people do this all the time. Maybe others make time together a priority. Maybe others have a handle on their schedules. But this situation is unique to us. We haven't done this before.....but I hope we do it again.