the moving sidewalk

Well I still don't know what to say about David's sudden passing. I think it is a little more shocking that I might have thought, just because he was exactly my age. I mean people in their mid-30's don't just wake up feeling out of sorts, then pass away suddenly. At least I hope they don't, because if so I'm in trouble. It just makes me think about my life up to this point, and be grateful for every minute I have left.

I've been thinking alot lately about friends, and how they are in our lives for a limited time. Some for a long time, and some for a short time.

I think this started the other day because Barb and I were talking at church about jewelry. I know, the usual church conversation...
Anyway, I thought immediately about my friend Nolia. Nolia is one of the coolest people I've known, and I really liked her. We even went on a missions trip to Mexico together, where we got chased by a turkey and almost fell in the Banyo. But that's for another time...
Nolia and I were friends when I lived in GA. And we haven't talked since I moved. But still, she made a lasting impression on me, and I thought about her fondly the other day.

I got to wondering about how people come in and out of our lives, and I remembered what another friend of mine said: that our journey thru life is like a moving sidewalk. You know, those ones at the airport. Like the one in Denver that I almost fell face first on 'cause I wasn't paying attention while I got on.
But she said that friends step on the moving sidewalk, and ride with you for a part of your journey. Then they get off, and you continue on. Some friends are on for the long haul, and some friends only ride with you for a short trip. But you keep going, and eventually there will be another friend to take part of that trip with you.

So, I guess it makes it easier to understand when people come in and out of our lives if we can see the fantastic friends that have come on the journey up to this point. I have been SO lucky, and SO blessed to have had such wonderful friends in my life, even if they stepped off my moving sidewalk awhile ago.

Look around at the friends you've had in your life, and be thankful for the good they brought out in you. Even if it was for a short time.

Much Love, K