Close from far away.

My friends have been scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Not to be histrionic or anything.
(Histrionic: (adj.) theatrical, artificial, melodramatic. Thank you, teaching job, for teaching me new vocab words.)

Back to the unexaggerated main point. This year is a a transition year for me and for many of my friends as well. Some have graduated and some have gotten married. We have taken new jobs and moved to new cities and countries. A few months ago my friends faces were five minutes away from me at any given moment. Now a phone call must close the distance between us. As grateful as I am for modern technology, the distance looks a lot like loss most days.

At the same time, losing the immediate presence of my close friends is teaching me some lessons. I say "is teaching" because these lessons are in process. I see them intermittently, like a picture coming through the filmy gray of a Polaroid.

I am first learning the treasure of true friends. My dear ones are ladies who know my heart because they have taken the time to prod and question. When I am with them, I am seen with deep acceptance. They see my sin--have suffered under the weight of it, in fact--yet press in closer. They value the quirks and facets of my personality which I feel free to show when I am with them. They believe I am smart and gifted, and their belief enables me to live boldly. Most importantly, they preach the Gospel to me daily in their words and actions.

Do you know this kind of friendship? I hope so.

I am secondly learning that love moves out. God's love is a gathering place and a sending source. This love brought my friends and I together for a sweet time. We defined friendship for one another, and now He has sent us far and wide with that experiential definition of friendship. In a world marked by wrecked relationships, a small battalion of women believe that the hard work of building friendships pays off. Wherever we live, we can testify to the way that He uses friendship.

A heart that aches for friends who are far away is a heart that has experienced immense blessing. What now? I hope the answer is a movement of gratitude and not bitterness.