Faithful Friends

By Pat

I talked to a good friend of mine this morning. It was really nice to laugh and chat, but especially to share our feelings, opinions and insights on the most important issue of our lives-our faith. He is struggling with many personal problems, carrying loads he never dreamed he would have to carry. I also struggle with issues and situations I didn't foresee, as most of us do.

My friend and I have very different feelings and theories about many aspects of God and faith; why we are allowed to struggle, God's sovereignty, just to name a couple. I don't always agree with him, as I am sure he does not always agree with me, and yet as I walked away from the phone this morning, I felt enlightened and uplifted. I will certainly think about some of the things we discussed as I always do when I have talked to a friend. I value his insights.

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Every Day Life: How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count The Ways...

By Beth M

As Lara has mentioned in her most recent article, we don't get to see each other a lot. We live 101 miles apart and both have jobs and families and lives away from each other. This is why we like to make the most of the time we can spend together, from scheming how to best take over the world to vegging out watching Lord of the Rings commentaries. Lara probably knows me better than anyone, save my mother, and even then it's pretty close. We've been friends since the 6th grade, which was 20 years ago now. WOW! That makes us sound so old! But, if recent history is anything to go on, Lara and I will never "be old" in the traditional sense of the word. We will continue to have as much fun as humanly possible as the years go by. We will continue to, in the words of my 14 year old daughter, "have too much fun."

For my next article, I've decided to take a more serious note and tell you all some of the things I love best about Lara. Now, some of them might be funny, or confusing to you, but they mean something to us. And this is in no way a comprehensive list. That would take too many pages and I'm pretty sure my fingers would fall off from typing long before I ever got to the end. Also, Ginny probably wouldn't want an article THAT long on the blog! We all need a friend like Lara in our lives, so here we are, 25 things I love about Lara:

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Friends Are Precious Gifts

By Pat

One of the things I am most thankful for every day of my life is my friends. They are such a vital part of my life. Most of my friends are scattered about, and their lives, like mine, are busy. Sometimes it's hard to stay as connected as we might like. And some of my friends are really just acquaintances that I don't really know well at all, and who don't really know me.

But whether good friend or acquaintance, the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer connect us in a way that is very comforting and special. God's power and love turns prayer warriors into friends! It's such a comfort to me to know that I need only ask my friends to pray for me and they do...as I do for them.

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Fingerprint Friday: Friends In Unexpected Places

By MAD21

If you had told me a year ago that I would have a blog and a Twitter account, I would have laughed at you. At that point I was still a reader of blogs and various websites, a lurker if you will, with no real interest in having one of my own. And I could not figure out why anyone would want to "Tweet." I mean, who cares what I had for breakfast or what my kids did in school that day?

Little did I know.

Little did I know what amazing friendships I would make. How much I would grow and learn through the experience of having a blog. But honestly, the biggest unexpected joy of getting involved in the blog world is all the social networking that goes on. Enter: Twitter.

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A Slight Glitch

By Lara

I had planned last week to write this week's article on "Meeting Someone Famous - Lara's Perspective." That was, after all, the next adventure in chronological order. However, the Year of the Birthday has hit a bit of a glitch.

Several weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a kidney stone or several. I was in a lot of pain and vomiting. My illness caused me to miss more work than I would have liked and several planned Year of the Birthday adventures. I was devastated. No one likes being sick or in pain, but I also hate it when I let people down.

Last Wednesday, the pain was so severe that I went to the emergency room. They gave me a CT scan and found a rather large kidney stone is stuck. Saturday I was back in the emergency room. This time, with a broken leg. (That also has something to do with this article being submitted late...)

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