Attitude of Gratitude Day Seven

It's late, but that's okay, because I was celebrating the holiday season with my girlfriends from the scrapbook store where I worked for the last year or so. The store closed three weeks ago, but we have become friends and wanted to celebrate together.

So, with that in mind, today I am grateful for Girlfriends! I have been blessed with girlfriends in a multitude of places, and each set is unique:

There are my neighborhood girlfriends whom I play tennis with (okay, mostly I cheer them on) and celebrate birthdays with. (And with our group, there is usually at least one birthday to celebrate with lunch each month.)

Then there are my scrapbook/stamping girlfriends. We all share a passion for preserving memories and creating beautiful things for the benefit of others. We laugh an awful lot, too!

There are my online girlfriends. I may never meet some of them in person, but those relationships build and grow and sometimes are a support group when one member goes through trials. Online friends can be an objective sounding board or just a safe place to vent frustrations and share joys. Some of my online girlfriends are prayer warriors, and it is wonderful to know that we can pray for one another across miles, across continents, and across oceans.

Church girlfriends are always special. We may only see them once a week, but at least we know we share a faith and an eternity. These are the girlfriends I work with and serve with and minister with.

And finally there are the "BFFs." In the contemporary vernacular, "best friend forever" is almost flippant and cliche. But once or twice in a lifetime, there are girlfriends who see beyond the surface to the marrow of the bones. These are the girlfriends who are there through thick and thin. Distance doesn't matter. Time doesn't matter. These girlfriends are the special gift from God to keep us grounded and real and authentic. There is a unique bond in this friendship, and I am so grateful that God has given me just that kind of friend. We may be 2600 miles apart and we may be impossibly busy, but we are connected by heartstrings and will truly be "best friends forever."

Isn't it wonderful how God meets all our relational needs--even the ones for birthday lunches and tennis matches? Friendship is a gift...and I am grateful for my girlfriends!