{The hokey pokey with good friends}
We hold space for one other.
To work it out from the knots of the middle. To be unique thinkers and feelers. To struggle and strain and to laugh at our own jokes.
We fill the room for each other.
Packing up boxes and strapping on skates. Sharing coffee and soup. Representing home in the crowd of unknown faces and telling stories with our smiles that say, “I know you, and I see you, and I always have.”
We make room.
For those on the outside looking in. For those with their own stories to tell. For the ways our lives might just intersect on holy ground.
We love.
Even as we grow in understanding how different that looks for each one, how that may change one day to the next. With banana bread, flowers from the yard, a message on the screen, a surprise visit, running in for the big bear hug, silence on the couch or down the sidewalk.
We remember.
Quirks and favorite drinks, wounds and sorrows and joys and milestones.
We forget.
The important stuff and why we became friends in the first place, what makes you tick, how she can make me so mad.
And so we forgive.
We call out the good, agree with hope and do what friends do: love and tell each other the truth…
You are enough. You have purpose. You are beautiful. You have spinach in your teeth.
________
Hi there. You might have noticed that I stepped away for a bit, but I do believe I’ll have more to share about that next week. Today I’m joining with the group of friends who gather at Lisa-Jo Baker’s to write for Five Minutes on Fridays. You are always welcome to join the ever-expanding circle. Today’s prompt: FRIEND. And today, it took me more than five. I’m a little rusty.
Connecting through the power of stories written, spoken and lived
OH, so happy to hear your voice this morning and with such a lovely ode to friendship…
you’ve made my heart melt and then belt out in joy and laughter at the last line…..what a brilliant zinger!
xoxo
:-) I do so love laughing with you.
You are SO loved, FRIEND! :)
#youhavespinachinyourteeth
Haha! I could use some hashtag speak with my buddy, Mags! xoxo
Love that Ashley! You are a good friend.
Bless you, Kelly. Grateful I can call you my friend, too.
You are brillant and beautiful, dear Ashley. It is a true honor to call you friend.
Thank you for these resonant, precious words – they go perfectly with this quiet, coffee drinking moment I am so blessed to have this morning.
All love,
Julia
Looking forward to our next coffee time together. Grateful for the ways words brought us into friendship. May your day be filled with surprising peace and joy today.
This is a great word picture of friendship. That last line is a classic!
:-) Blessings to you and your family, Elizabeth. Thinking so much of you, friend.
Oh man, I love you. So wise, do deep and so dang funny all at the same time. What a perfect picture of friendship you have described. So thankful you are my beloved sister and my dearest friend. And so glad you’re sharing your voice and your heart here again.
I love you so much, Sis. Thanks for loving all my quirky parts and walking through life with me. Immensely grateful I get to call you sister AND friend!
Girlie… you know I would tell you about that spinach! I love you so! It’s so good to hear your voice this morning… (now… to get Alia to show you how to use Voxer…)
I know you would! So, about Voxer…I’d have to update my phone, and I am so averse to updates. I might have to do it, though, just so we can walkie-talkie, or however it is you Vox.
“I know you. I see you and I always have.” Every one of my special friendships is wrapped in those words. Feels so good to read them, like being known…like coming home. Welcome back Ashley!
Thank you, love. How desperately we want to be seen and known. Amazing when friendships can provide a glimpse of the Eternal acceptance and seen-ness that’s ours.
Beautiful post. I sure an thankful to call you my friend!!!
And me, you! Looking forward to our visit. xoxo
What a beautiful blog you have! Simple, yet friendly, and very nice.
I wonder if one can write books on friendship. Not because there are stories to be told, but because it has to do with being. And the question is, if the notion of “friendship” should be questioned. (*smile*). Myself, I want to be friends with all. But what comes out of it, is that no-one wants to be friends with me.
You describe friendship with a little irony, and I enjoyed reading it.
Anders, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write back. I’ve thought often of your comment these last weeks and have been praying for you. Asking God to touch those places for connection with friends that can enjoy you as you are, who can simply “be” with you, as you say. Thank you for speaking your truth here because I believe there are so many who can relate to this kind of unfulfilled longing for companionship. May you find a brother or two to journey with you. Blessings on your journey, Anders.
Oh FRIEND (deep breath in), how good it is to see your words here today! I’ve missed you – we’ve missed you – and still, I completely know how important it is to lean into those silences, however long they may stretch. You have been teaching me, in your quiet, gentle, consistent, wise and transparent way, what it is to be a better friend. I learn from you, more than you are aware. And it shows here, in this piece – the being together in the everyday stuff, in the painful stuff, laughing and crying and forgetting and forgiving. Speaking the truth, even the spinach truth ;-) I am so grateful your friendship has touched my life.
“Lean into those silences, however long they may stretch.” Isn’t that so true? Thank you for walking through friendship with me, friend. You’re such a continual blessing in my life.
I love it when you squeeze me
I would LOVE a Steph squeeze right about now. :-)
I love your description of friendship. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Amy. Happy to see your face here.
My heart did a little skip-best to see your post Ash! I feel a lot of gratitude that you took this rest, to experience the “quiet” and too that you felt no need to explain it. Such wisdom, such depth of heart and such a beautiful way you have of braiding the two and again I see that here! I find such deep gulps of fresh air and always a blessing or a thing to ponder in this green place. Thank you from my heart’s bottom! xo!
I love you to your heart’s bottom! Thanks, Mama, for your dear words here.