Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

I’m sure you have seen the e-mail forward that says friends come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I can name several people who have been in my life at one time or another that fall into the reason or season categories. There are only a very few people that I consider lifetime friends.

A lifetime friend is someone who is always there. You might lose contact for awhile, you might not see or talk to each other for several years, but when you do meet again your friendship picks right up where you left it. It is comfortable to reconnect with a lifetime friend; it is satisfying somewhere deep in your soul to have this person in your life again. These are the friends that you miss deeply when they aren’t actively a part of your life; the friends you dream about; the friends that pop into your thoughts when you least expect it.

My friend Pat is a lifetime friend. She and I have been friends since I was a child. This wasn’t your typical childhood friendship, though; Pat is about 20 years older than I am. She has pictures of me in Sunday School when I was 2 or 3 (she was my teacher), and she has pictures of me at the beach with her children when I was 15 or 16. She was one of the first people (besides my roommates) who knew I had kissed Matt, and she made our wedding cake 4 years later. I baby-sat her children and she was at my baby shower.

When I was about 10 years old I started spending a lot of time with Pat and her family. She had just had her first child and had recently moved into the house she and her husband were building. I remember being at her house before it had baseboards, interior doorknobs, or a porch. I remember both of her children as infants (they are in high school now, the oldest is a Senior – that makes me feel old!). I remember laughing together, singing together, watching movies together, cooking together, and eating together.

I was at her house at least 1 weekend per month for several years. In my Junior and Senior years of high school I spent less and less time with Pat; when I started college I only saw her for a few minutes here and there. After I got married and moved away we pretty much lost contact all together. Pat e-mailed me again not long before I found out I was pregnant with Little; I was so happy that I was able to share that time of my life with her.

Pat and I had a lot of fun over the years – more memories than I could ever record in one place (and more than anyone but me would care to read) – but she also taught me a lot about life and about loving God. Her house was a safe place for me to share all of those things that a young girl sometimes has trouble sharing; we talked about friends, about boys, about the past, and about the future. Over the years she showed me so much of her heart for God – both in conversation and in action; she’s had a true and lasting influence on my walk with Christ. I am blessed to call her friend.

I pray that my daughters will have friends like this; women who take interest in their lives and walk beside them through the rough years of middle school, high school, and beyond. I pray that I can be “Pat” to someone’s daughter.

I love you, Pat, and I will always cherish our friendship.