Friendship

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend." - Charles Caleb Colton

Obviously with us making the move to College next year we have had to start saying good bye to people that we have built friendships with and spent time with here at Warrnambool, this is never an easy process because both Susan and I (especially Susan !) make strong bonds and build deep friendships. On the other side of the coin we have a number of strong friendships in Melbourne that are excited because we are moving back closer to them again, for every negative there is a positive.
This has made me sit and reflect on what it really means to be a friend, a true friend, a person you can trust no matter what is happening around. There have been a number of stages in my life when I have found out just who my really good friends are,the ones who still care and love you when all others are walking away. I am very fortunate to have some incredible people in my life who have supported and loved me through the good and bad, a great wife and extremely loving family but also some very strong friends.
You see anyone can be a fair weather friend but it takes courage, strength, commitment, faith and love to be a friend when things are not good, when the road is tough, when you might have to get hurt to help. The best part of these friends is I can rely on them not just to support me but also to hold me accountable and to tell me off when I have stepped out of line, I dont want my friends to all be yes people who are always telling me how good I am, I want them to love me enough to tell me the truth and then help me through the repairs needed.
Jesus called each of us to be friends to our neighbours, not just the ones who life is easy for but everyone. I want you to quickly think about something ... if life was falling apart for any of your friends would you be the person they turned to, would they be able to rely on you to support them and get them through that dark hour. On the flip side if your life was seemingly falling apart who would you call, have you developed friendships that would allow you to express your feelings to a friend and to be able to rely on them to help you ?
I would hope that my friends would know that I will always be there for them, that no matter what has happened they can rely on me to stay thick, and to see them through the storms.
I pray that if you dont have any strong friends or havent ever allowed yourself to be vulnerable in front of your friends that you find someone in life that you can depend on, that you can allow to see your inner pain, that will keep you accountable but in a loving,caring way, and that will be the loving neighbour that Jesus called us each to be.
Thankyou to all my friends for your support and love, and remember that I am always there for you no matter what time or what day.
God Bless.