friends.

I enjoy the list that dictionary.com gives as definitions of a "friend". I want to share a few.
  1. A friend is a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
  2. A friend is a person who gives assistance; a patron; a supporter.
  3. My favorite, the verb tense of "friend": to add (a person) to one's list of contacts on a social-networking 
  web site.
The Bible talks about the friendship of David and Jonathan and how their souls were knit together. What a 
 neat(and perfect) way to describe friendship! 
I often think of Proverbs 27:17 when I think about friends. "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens
 another."
My friend, Gracie Lou*, says that a friend is "there for you always, lifts you up when you're down, and
 someone that always tells you the truth, no matter how hard it is."

 People always comment, saying, "You know everyone" and "You call everyone your best friends". I love friends!

Today I have been particularly mindful of friends, and what I consider "a friend". I had to hug friends that were leaving kamp, people who I had just gotten to know two weeks ago, that I don't even know very well, but I love because of the time we have spent together, the jokes that we have made, and the shenanigans we have done. I was extremely sad! Even just after two weeks! These were/are my friends! Here they are:

Back: Kristen, April, Me, and Kristen
Front: Kristen, Margaret, Amy, and Haley

In the video I just posted, there is a guy who talks about how he counts down the days 'til he sees his best friends, the ones at kamp. I do that! There is just something about friends made at kamp! Oh yeah, a girl on that video said something about the basis of the friendship, the Lord. Our souls are knit together! ...I mean, right!? My best friends are ones who share a love for the Lord that I have! The essence of my soul, and hopefully the incense! Jess and Anna are two kamp friends who are the Lord in tangible form for me on the hot, long days of summer...and in the off season. They love me for me, always have open ears in "rags and brags", always correct me and have a better view when I am "raggin'" too much, they are kind, and know my heart, even beyond what I am saying. They are my friends. Here they are: 



**Anna and I's friendship is also one of learning...how to not blink with a flash.

These are girls I count down the days to see! But besides all my kamp friends, I also count down the days to see other friends. These are the ones I have been friends with since "those awkward years" of middle school and even elementary school. The ones I get to see once a year or less, but still have the same bond with as if we see each other every day. Here are a few of those friends...and some a couple new husband friends:

Back: Michael, Robert, Amy, Kelsey, and Leigha
Front: Casey, Me, Jenny, and Garner

Sometimes I think that I call people my friend just because I laugh a lot with them, or laughed a lot with the one time we hung out on the trip I went on five years ago. Sometimes I make friends...Most of the time I make friends very easily, instantaneously sometimes. I really just need one "bond" to consider people as a friend. I think that sometimes it has to do with the love I want to have for all people. I am friends with the homeless people sitting outside my workplace, and the ones I tend to cross paths with often. These people have stories that I love to hear. I love to hear stories, and to tell stories, even though I am not good at telling them.

My friend Ed is one friend I have had for just about a month. He is a security guard at kamp, and keeps me safe on my late night walks back to my cabin from my office. The first time we met I heard his story, his story of life, work the Lord has enabled him to do, and the spirit he has had as the Lord has taken him through ups and downs in that work. He gives all glory to the Father, and loves the place I love...KAMP! I loved his story about how he didn't even know about kamp on his ventures from his AR home to Branson as a teen,  how he heard about it, and about how he sees the vision that kamp has. He is a cool guy. Here he is:

I love friends! Hopefully I can tell you about more later. AND Hopefully more of my "friends" will write me letters while I am away from them, at kamp. Confession: Sometimes I think people really aren't my friends when I don't get a letter for a few days. I should be a better friend when it comes to thinking about my friends! ...and I should write the ones back who have written. I know that friendship isn't just about getting letters at kamp...but it sure does make it better! ;)

I should probably consider each and one of you a friend if you made it through this whole blog post. 

What do you think makes a friend, a friend?

*Gracie Lou really is my friend, Lauren S, who requested anonymity for some crazy reason. She probably won't read this to find out that I took the mask off. :)