Recently I have been reflecting on the growing pains that come with any friendship. Like any relationship, friendship is never perfect. There are periods were things are wonderful and you can not imagine your life without them. And then there are times when there is distance, or periods of absence, where the friendship is left to grow in the wild, untended. And then we go back to it, pull up the weeds, trim away the undergrowth, and it is new again.
Many of those absences have been caused either by physical distance, or by the fact that we struggle with what happens in our own lives. At times, it is hard to except the things that have happened to us. There have been times of struggle, times of bad choices, times of things said that shouldn't have been. We accept these mistakes in our friends. I personally struggle with accepting them in myself. I focus on when I embarrassed myself, or when I wasn't able to be by their side, or even when I haven't called in awhile. I think, who would want to be friends with someone who acts like that.
It is just recently that I have been able to accept that my friends love me for who I am. That even though I am far from a perfect friend, they will be there, and that is the joy of friendship. Accepting the imperfectness of each other and facing life, knowing you have those who support you no matter what mistakes you may make.
Friends are what make the rough roads passable and the blessings even joyous.
