I AM BLESSED

Just a brief little post to share a few thoughts that have been floating in my head for a couple of weeks now.
I am truly blessed by the friends that God has placed in my life. I know that many people say that friends are the family that you get to choose. And I suppose that is true especially for people who don't have any extended family or have poor relationships with family or their family just isn't close by. But I'm lucky to have a very close-knit family that gets along very well together. So my friends are bonus family! Here's a couple little stories highlighting some "true friendship moments":
1. Before heading down to Albany, OR to visit the Owen family, Jane Anne sends me an email saying that there was a possibility we might be going to a water park so pack my swimsuit. I emailed her back and said that I'd packed the girls' and I would see about finding mine but that was a very SCARY thought. In true friendship fashion, her response was not - no pressure, if you don't feel comfortable in a swimsuit don't worry about it. No she told me - if I couldn't handle it to pack a baggy t-shirt to wear over my swimsuit! And contrary to what some people might be thinking right now, I was not offended in the slightest. Matter of fact, I smiled. My friend was not about to let me "get-away" with missing out on great fun over my stupid pride! THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
2. While in Oregon, I made a very last minute phone call to my friend, Kristi, asking if we could come over and see them and even possibly stay the night. Without hesitation (or anger over the short notice) she told me to come as soon as possible and we could stay as long as we wanted. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
3. In a bit of "It's a small world", my roommate from Ecola who lived in and around the Portland area all her life, happened to move to Graham, WA about 2 1/2 years ago. Sadly, even though we live about 15 minutes from each other now, we still rarely see each other. We are on a bunco team together though, and so usually spend the second Thursday of every month chatting and catching up. This last Thursday was one of those days. As we were getting our dinner, Megan mentioned that the pizza we were both getting had mushrooms. I told her I LOVE mushrooms. We continued on with our conversation and w/o asking me or saying anything she pulled all of the mushrooms off her piece of pizza and put them on mine. I didn't think twice about it. After we had sat down, I noticed that she wasn't eating the mushrooms that had been on her salad. Still talking about other things I ate them off her plate. She didn't blink an eye. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
4. My friend Heather is into bicycling. She is extremely dedicated and loves it. I help facilitate a scrapbooking/craft night at our church once a month. And have also been very busy trying to help out with our remodel project. (Stay tuned for future posts, proving this fact!) Because of this, we've not been able to spend as much time together as we used too. I realized the other day how much I miss spending time with her. THAT IS A TRUE FRIEND!
I have so many other stories I could share about other friends but I don't have the time or space to write them all down. I am so THANKFUL for all the people who have blessed my life with their friendship!