Friendship Holding Patterns

In the last blog I was talking about the eternal nature of friendships and relationships in general. (Take a minute and read back if you need to) In light of that fact it is amazing to think that a friendship, once it has begun, can literally last forever!

That's great news for those of us who have friendships that are on hold right now. Do you have any of those? Let me explain: About 20 years ago I was living in Texas and working at Last Days Ministries. I met some truly great people there - to this day I value those relationships. However, I haven't seen most of the people I got to know there since I left. Can I really still count them as friends if I haven't had much if any contact with them in 20 years? Absolutely! 

These friendships are on hold for now - holding at the level were we left off. Some of them have been renewed through Facebook contact, some as I have visited the cities they now live in, and some will have to wait until we have an eternity to spend together. These friendships have not ended - they are just on hold until further contact is possible.

This idea gets me even more excited about eternity in heaven - thinking about the wonderful people I know and the fact that I will have an eternity with them to continue the friendship we started. Distance may have separated us, time may have gotten away from us in this life, but the relationship is still alive even if it is dormant for now. Eternity will revive it if there is no opportunity to do so in this life. That excites me!

The primary reason for this blog is to look at why friendships die and how we can prevent the pain that comes when they do, but for now I am just thankful for the ones that are still alive, even if some of them are on hold for a while.