a reason, a season, a lifetime

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Packing/moving can be a stressful and frustrating task. Where and when did I accumulate all this stuff? It looks like I am going to need many more Rubbermaid bins and boxes than I anticipated...

Packing can, however, also be fun because you often find hidden treasures - things you thought you'd lost, things you forgot you had, things you knew you had, but hadn't used or looked at them in a long time.

My high school yearbooks are an example this last category. I can't remember the last time I looked at the photos or read the well wishes in my high school yearbooks, but after JVB and MDB came over to help me pack, found my yearbooks, looked through them, and teased me about my high school hairstyle (think thick bangs), I decided to sit down and let nostalgia take over for a while.

What I discovered was that I had some great friends in high school. I read about inside jokes and adventures that I had long forgotten, and heartfelt expressions of love and friendship for me. I cried several times while reading how much I and my friendship meant to my high school friends.

After I finished reading, I thought about how sad it was that I am no longer friends with the majority of these people. Distance, time, and changes pulled us apart. How could I have been so close to these wonderful people and just let our relationships slip away?

Then this morning I remembered the saying that "God brings people into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime", and realized how true this is. I can't changed what happened to cause the erosion of those friendships, but I can look back and be grateful for those high school friends who were with me for that season. I loved them, learned from them, laughed with them; they helped shape my high school experience, which helped shape the person I am today.

As I enter a time of transition and move into another new phase of my life, I want to take the time to thank you (yes, you) for being a part of my life. Whether it be for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, I appreciate your friendship , support and time we've spent together - the good, bad and the ugly. Remember that I love you now, and if we end up apart in the future, I'll love you still. I will look back on our friendship today and know that God brought us together for a purpose, that His purpose is good, and that it is always meant to help us learn, grow, and become more fully the people that He created us to be. This song is dedicated to you.

FOR GOOD
from Wicked

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share
And none of it seems to matter anymore

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

And because I knew you
I have been changed for good.