I got on Facebook to introduce this blog and I was able to “see” a lot of people that I have not been in touch with for quite some time. It was nice to see the response when I sent out request. A couple of people said I have been wondering about you glad you are doing well! That was nice. I think the thing that I found interesting was how many of the people that I went to school with that are on Facebook. I knew most of them by name of course and then their picture. We really haven’t changed that much.

But what has stood the test of time is the that there was still the funny guy, the beautiful people, the sweet girl, that quiet guy who sat in the corner, the hunters and the motor heads. You know what else hasn’t changed? The girl who wouldn’t speak to me in high school, still doesn’t on Facebook. Her husband does (as he did in school) but she doesn’t. She was one of the beautiful people and still very pretty and still wont talk to me on Facebook. LOL My account is one week old and I have 189 friends! But do I really?

According to the dictionary (remember those?) a friendship is the state of mutual trust, support, and affection between people. Lets take a quick look at these three things. I’ve mentioned my three besties and I would say that they cover all items trust, support and affection, some more gifted in one area than the other and that’s o.k. there are four of us all together and with that we keep all bases covered.

Trust – have you ever had someone say something really personal to you and inside your head you are thinking, “Why are you telling me this?” It happens to me all of the time. It happens to my mom and both of my daughters too. Strangers will spill their guts at the grocery store, at the doctor’s office, in line somewhere, etc. I don’t know if we just have friendly faces but I just don’t tell my private business until I have a certain amount of trust built up and then well, it really has to serve some kind of purpose. (I have heard a ton of private business from people on cell phones but that is a whole other discussion.) For example I am divorced but back together with my husband. I am extremely grateful to have my family together again, I believe my children have seen, forgiveness, restoration, and God’s healing hand on a relationship. That is all I will share about that on the blog. The intimate details, the very private stuff, I share when/if it makes sense. If it will help someone do life better absolutely but to just tell it nope. Trust is HUGE in a friendship. How many friends do you have that you have that deep trust with?

Support – who holds your hand, lifts you up, encourages you, helps you find a job, a new place to live, maybe helps you move, checks on your family if you don’t live near them, lets you know an item you have been looking for is on market place? This is where I believe all of our Facebook friends do a bang up job! I had a different Facebook page in the past and I’ve seen all kinds of support. One that most endured me was the Ice Bucket Challenge and all of the money it raised for ALS because I lost my Uncle Ted to ALS in November of 2011. I’ve also seen all kinds of awareness on Facebook for needs that might have gone unmet if not for Facebook friends and that is cool. So your Facebook friends are a really good place for support.

Affection – this one gets tricky….A feeling of fondness or liking. I’m not going to lie, I am old school. You have to be extremely careful with acts if affection with your male friends so that you are not disrespectful to their spouse/partner, to your spouse/partner, or to yourself. So how do we show affection? By listening very careful to the other person, making time for the other person, by giving them a hug. I am not saying you can not have friends of the opposite sex I am saying be extremely careful with any physical examples of affection, what you might say in a text and good Lord don’t be meeting them to hang out its just not smart.

There you have it, friendships according to the dictionary and some random lady on her blog. Writing this I realize that I have friend that I call for different things. For issues that I need a trustful person, issues of support, and when I need a shoulder to cry on or a hug. I am really blessed to have these people available to me. I hope they know how special they are to me and how forever grateful I am to have them. What about you? In this unpredictable world who do you trust, lean on for support, and have affection for? Who are your friends? Reach out to them today and let them know how glad you are to have them in your life. I’d love to hear about them!