Sarah and Kandelyn

(Kandelyn, one week away from delivery!!)

Throughout my life, my mom was always a great example to me of having and keeping lots of friends. We moved several times before the age of 10, and she always taught me that it was okay to love my new AND old friends. I'm sure she could sense the confusion in my mind and heart....and also taught me that it's okay to have lots of "best friends". We would always sing the song:

"Make new friends....and keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold"

And this has become a theme throughout my life. No two friends are equal to me, yet can be of equal importance in completely different ways. I am so thankful to my new, old, long, short, life or seasonal friends. Each has taught me something valuable.

I was so happy to be able to meet up with two such friends recently - Sarah and Kandelyn. I met these women in my very early years of motherhood (just had one little baby) and they were important parts of molding and shaping me in that phase of my life. We lived near each other, attended church together (and all that comes with that), sang in Harmony, served in several capacities, had pregnancies together and traded kids for about 5 years. They've been gone for over a year, but my love and appreciation for them has not faded. We spent an afternoon catching up, laughing and having the kids play. I am so thankful for their friendship and influence in my life!