Don told me the other day that David Schwimmer got $750,000 for each television episode of Friends in which he acted. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I began to think of a talk I got to give at a women's retreat one year about friends, and decided to condense it for my blog.
This was inspired by Dr. Charles Stanley, a wonderful television pastor.
Most of us think of ourselves as having friends, perhaps not as expensive as David Schwimmer, but just as valuable. Throughout my life of living in several “circles” there have been many people I could categorize as friends. My teacher friends and I meet for breakfast, I see my church friends on Sunday, at Bible study, care group, and when we meet just for fun. There are friends in my neighborhood. Some of my friends are casual, others close, and perhaps two or three are truly intimate. Friends are important parts of our lives, and I know reams of material have been written on the subject.
Our relationships and friendships can cause pain and disappointment. It’s just a fact of life. All of us have been hurt by a friend who proves unfaithful. Even members of our family or the closest of friends can let us down. Friends are only people after all.
The let down comes as a shock in some cases, or you expected it in others, but it is never easy when you’re going through it. How we react to it when it happens is what I'm writing about.
I experienced one such let down years ago when I went to a church retreat with a friend and visualized the weekend having fun, eating meals, and talking with this person. However, when we got there, another group of people caught her attention and she began “hanging out” with them, leaving me to my own devices. I was hurt and had to do a lot of praying and self-encouragement in order to enjoy any part of the retreat. I chose to spend time alone, and I’m sure my face showed how I felt.
However, I chose, with God's help, to put the whole incident behind me when retreat was over, and go on nurturing and taking care of that friendship.
I’m so glad I decided to take care of that friendship. As it turned out, she was going through an emotional upheaval at the time and was reacting to life in general in unusual ways. We are still “buddies,” even though she’s moved away, and probably doesn’t even remember the weekend!
An important thought to consider is that the less time you have to live, (less tomorrow than today!) the less time to build friendships, so you better take care of the ones you have. I'll revisit this topic in my next blog!
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