Sacred Life Sunday part 6 - The gift of friendship

Wow it's been too long since I posted something for Sacred Life Sunday. I feel as if the past few months have been a nightmarish whirl of activity where one thing after another has popped up to cause havoc in our lives. T and I have both suffered from ill health (enough to stop us both working) and therefore financial troubles neither of us had ever imagined we'd have - especially not within the first 6 months of living together. These past few months could have cmpletely killed us and our relationship, such was the pressure put upon us and it, but it didn't - all because of the gift of friendship!

T and I met last May and became fast friends even though miles kept us apart for most of the time. We would send emails and texts back and forth and occasionally talk on the phone or meet up in person, up until October when our friendship turned into a relationship. Everyne was overjoyed at this development and I had friends contacting me from all over to ask if it was true - did I finally have a boyfriend?! Here lay the first and second gifts of friendship - the special friendship I have with T being the first and the sharing of joy and good news with friends the second.

As time went on T and I began to consider moving in together - which meant moving away from my family again. Now, for me, my family are some of the closest friends a person can ever have - and equally important is the fact that close friends are always considered to be family. This is perhaps one of the greatest gifts of friendship and one we have come to value extremely highly these past few months. In times of our greatest need our family have come through and helped us stay afloat in the turbulent waters that surrounded us. My parents have offered us financial assistance, T's parents have provided us with essentials, my sister has given us money for treats to cheer us up and my friends have given us hope and prayed with us in finding our way forwards.

And when I say our friends, I do not just mean the friends I see each day but also the ones I hold in my heart. Having moved away from home to study and then taking part in voluntary activities both in the UK and abroad and moving once more to work after graduation, I have been blessed with many friends around the world. And through the medium of the internet I have been able to keep in touch with so many of these - even in the busiest times of my life. But even more than keeping me in touch with old friends, the internet has allwed me to make even more new ones - some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet in person as well! Both through blogging and internet forums I have met and made some amazing friends - some of whom I'll never meet but who will still remain in my heart as a part of my "online family". And I truly believe that unless you have online friends yourself you cannot understand how real these friendships are. Many people I have spoken to have failed to understand the true bonds of friendships that can be built online - but to them I say "I'm sorry you are missing out on a world of love and friendship" - for how could it not be real when I met the love of my life online - the guys who strangers we met thought we were together even before we considered it!!

And so, today I am extremely thankful to be blessed with so many friends in my life. I know that sometimes I fall behind and neglect to tell them I am thinking about them - but I always hold them in my heart. One of the little girls in pre-school made one of my colleagues cry the other day by saying "you are not my friend in here (points to her head), you are my friend in here (points to heart) because you cannot have friends in your head but if you have friends in your heart it means you will never forget them!" Wise and emotional words for a 4 year old, don't you think? But oh, so true.

And so, my friends, today this post is dedicated to you - even if I have only just met you - because I hold you all in my heart. And if you haven't heard from me in a while you might just get some comments on your blog soon because I *finally* got round to putting all your links int bloglines, which means I can better keep up with the latest news from you all!

Take care and have a beautiful Sunday

With Love

Amanda xx