Friends......

Ok..so it has been a while.....
This summer is flying by SOOOOOO fast! Seems like the girls were in school and we were looking forward to our beach vacation for the summer!...well, that has come and gone :o( A week with 6 teenagers and 2 of our bestest friends in the world....we had our best vacation yet at Garden City, SC...it was a perfect week! :o)
Now we have less than one month until school starts all over again! This will be a great year...both grils (yes, I said grils) in High School...my where did time go...you turn your head and they are grown up so fast! LMDQ will be a sophomore and LMS will be a freshman!...WOW!
I am in Boone for a few more hours. LMS and I came to see Grandma for a couple of days and to feel this much cooler weather of the NC mountains! I have enjoyed our time together this week, as she has been an only child...and has played us to the hilt on that one! :o)~ DQ is at OIB with her dearest girlfriends, M, I and M! I know they are having a blast this week...oh to be young again! I have missed her bunches and know she has had a wonderful week...but I am ready to have her home again!

This morning I was enjoying this beautiful view of a mountain and the sun rising above it and having my coffee...and reflecting on so many things in life. As I pondered, it brought me to this....
I ran into a dear friend from High School last night at Pepper's Restaurant...she and her husband were having dinner. I bring this up because they were eating alone. Their 2 kids are grown and her son is in college and her daughter is married and expecting in 7 weeks....(blows me away that one of my best friends from high school is going to be a Grandma...AND the fact that she still looks the same as the day we graduated!) ok...so I am getting to my point here ( I know I can ramble and get side tracked easily). It got me thinking...she said to me..."yes, we are alone...we always are now!..the kids are grown!"...lol)...well it got me thinking this morning......how blessed I am with such wonderful friends in my life...there are some really special people in my life...I may not talk to them every day...or even every week...but they mean the world to me! They go back to my earliest days...or last few years. They have stood beside me thru think and thin!..and I really mean that! So...my first point of this is...my husband, Mr. Rooster....he has been my best friend for almost 17 years now and I am so happy for that. You know kids will keep you running...be they babies, toddlers or teenagers...then they REALLY grow up and go to college, move away...get lives of their own, etc...so this 'glue' keeps you together for all of those years..but when they are gone...what do you have left?...each other?...you better not only LOVE them...but LIKE them as well :o) And I am soooo happy that I have a husband that I look forwrd to enjoying our 'old' time together. I will miss our grils dearly...but look forward to rocking on the porch with my old man one day...I am so blessed...I love Mr Rooster....but most of all ...I LIKE him!..my best friend.:o)

k...so gonna go one step further and tell you about a friend that I have had forever (literally)...has been there through thick and thin...ups and downs...good and bad and NEVER changes. He is responsible for the person that I am today and why I have so many dear friends IN my life. As dear as all of my friends are..none would lay down thier lives for me...but HE did. That 'He' would be Jesus Christ :o) He will never forsake me...turn his back on me...NEVER leave my side. PRAISE GOD!

Joseph Scriven inscribed the words to a beloved hymn called "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in 1857. I think of this song when I think of all of my wonderful earthly friends...cause He has blessed me so! :o)

The words written at the beginning of this song....
"What a Friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privlege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!"

and of course....some words form the second verse..
"Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a Friend so faithful?"

The awnser is NO!...I have tons of great people in my life...but none so faithful as My friend, Jesus.

So...point number 1. I am glad I am married to my BEST friend...and will enjoy his company for as long as our lives here on earth are joined...
2. I thank God for placing each friend in my life for what ever reason/season He sees/saw fit....
3. What a friend we have in Jesus!

In closing (I know this has been really long, but I have to make up for lost blogging time!...lol)........

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. ~Plautus


If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. ~George MacDonald

and scripture...

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!"
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 New King James Version

Love to all of my friends!
Denise :o)

Prayer for today:
Dear Lord, my best friend....I pray for my daughters and all of my friends/family to know that YOU are The Friend that will always be by their sides...forever.
Amen