Friendship

Dear Emmalee,
One of the greatest blessings you will ever have in your life is friends, and one of the most important things you will ever be in this life is a friend. I remember days in college when the only thing that kept me going were the friends around me.  Choose your friends wisely.  Have Godly, Christians friends that will lift you up, and never tear you down; have friends that help you dream and encourage you to reach your goals.  Have friend that take you to the Word, never away from it. 

A well-known writer once said:

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."

A good friends is always by your side - in the good times and bad; through the smiles and the tears.  A friend is the one who will be there when you need a big hug, or need a shoulder to cry on, or need someone just to talk to.  A friend will accept you for who you are, with all your gifts and all your faults, and love you unconditionally.  A friend will believe in you when you don't believe in yourself. 

So for those who you choose to be your friend, make sure you are also a friend to them. Love your friends, pray for them and see them through the hardest times; support them and lift them up, cry with them and for them, smile at them and laugh with them.  When the whole world walks away, stay by their side. Defend them, fight for them, encourage them, and be loyal to them.  Always take them to the Word, an never away from it.

This quote seems to sum it all up well:
But oh! The blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one's deepest as well as one's most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely.  Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.  ~Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, 1859

I pray that you are a friend to many, and have friends that life you up, take you to the Word, and love you unconditionally.  One of my favorite sayings is "Here's to the nights that turn into mornings, and the friends that turn into family."  I pray that you have friends that turn to family, sweet baby, and that you are the family to your friends.