Today I am spending my day in town.  I’m going to hang out with an old friend at 4, but I must find things to do until then.  So I once again find myself in my favorite local coffee shop.  It’s rather cool in here, and I wish I had brought in my cardigan, but alas, I did not.

Something that has been on my mind lately is the topic of best friends.  I always say that I don’t have a best friend.  Friends always leave, and there’s no one person who has stuck by my side.
However, I am realizing why I don’t have a best friend; it’s because I have several.  I have my local friends, Jena, Lauren, Karina, and Jenn, some older and some almost brand new, who love Jesus and love me.  I can talk to them and they can talk to me.  They make my visits home both fun and enjoyable, and my relationship with God grows when I am in their presence.  There are times in my life where I may not have survived if I didn’t know them.
I have my friends from my school, who have kept my strong in the last few years.  Jenny, Hannah, Michelle, Erika, Zachary, Jared, Aaron, all the lovely people who have proved time and time again that I matter to them.  Truthfully, they matter to me as well.  We’ve had adventures and shared interests with one another.  We do our best to know each other’s stories.  They’ve helped me to know what a family truly is.
And I of course have my far away bestie, Jackson.  He’s one of the few people who I can pick up with right where we left off.  We don’t get to talk often, and we rarely see each other because there is half a country between us, but I love him just the same.  I don’t think I’ll ever stop caring for him or our friendship, and I’m sure his feelings are mutual.

I don’t need to have just one best friend.  I’m different in many other ways, so why should I try to blend in in this format?  I’m so excited for how my friendships will develop as I grow older.  One of the most fun things in life is looking back to see how things have changed.