It is Tuesday morning and I was supposed to get together with my friends, Bien & Teresa, but my daughter stayed home sick from school today so I wasn't able to join them.
Bien & Teresa are two separate people (of course:) - but when I see them it is often together.
Bien is a lively, strong woman with 2 lively, strong children - a teenage son and a 4 year old daughter. She loves to cook and is currently going to college for nursing. I met Bien through a small group I was attending at my previous church. I like Bien because she is open and honest - she says what she thinks and doesn't try to make it sound "nice" all the time. She has had quite a bumpy ride in life, but she has risen above it and stayed positive and strong. When I'm with Bien we laugh a lot - more of the ironic laugh than the ha-ha funny laugh. She is not an idealist like I tend to be - so it keeps me focused on the fact that it's OK that life is not perfect. I need to be reminded of that pretty regularly.
Teresa is a quieter, yet strong woman. She doesn't have any children - yet ;-) She is sweet and kind and seems to always be trying to help others in some way. She is a nurse also, and is going for her Master's right not. Teresa and I met at a Bible Study we were taking together at the church we both used to go to. We went out for a walk one warm day after the Bible study and just walked and talked for about an hour. We've been friends ever since. I like her because she can be very sweet, yet have a strong opinion about things all at the same time. Teresa also had some rough spots in her past and she has stayed strong and positive despite the struggles. Teresa helps me to remember to be kind and upbeat even when things don't look so good. I also need to be reminded of this regularly.
When Bien & Teresa are together they like to compare notes on clinicals and classes. They have a nursing language that I don't always follow - but it's fun to listen to them talk about their experiences and issues. Our conversations together normally have to do with general life experiences and how we process what it is all about. We talk about our marriages, our families, our past, our hopes for the future and how we can see God working through it all. We each have completely separate and different lives - different church experiences, different upbringings and often different points of view. If you put us all together in a line up you probably wouldn't pick us out as the most likely to be friends because we each appear to be so different. When I am with Bien and Teresa it is comfortable and fun. We don't have to pretend to be something we are not and we can talk about any issue we choose - even the less delicate ones - because we're all OK with the messier topics that some people shy away from. Bien and Teresa are newer friends and so we don't have a long history together, but because we are good friends it feels like we have known each other much longer.
I think that's why I like friendship so much because it doesn't have to make sense to work. The only thing that you have to have in common is that you like each other for who you are and that you can talk about most anything without feeling uncomfortable. I am amazed when I really consider how many truly great friends I have. It is such a blessing - really it is! I'm so grateful for all of my friends and today I thank God for my friends, Bien & Teresa - even though I didn't get to see them :-(
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