Recently we had an ‘old’ friend and her family staying with us for the best part of 5 weeks. We’ve been friends for 30 years. Since then I’ve been pondering the importance of friendship, having old friends but making new friends as well.
I’ve been thinking about the old song (that I must have learnt at Girl Guides), Make New Friends. The first couple of lines go “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold.” That was all I could remember until I googled the song.
A verse which is appropriate for our friendship is “You have one hand, I have the other. Put them together, We have each other.” We don’t see each other often but we still have each other. I really enjoyed working together in the kitchen with my friend during her recent visit.
The final verse goes “Across the land Across the sea Friends forever We will always be”. This is also very appropriate for our friendship as she’s been away from Brisbane for over 20 years now, first in North Qld and for almost 18 
years she’s been in England. Through that time we maintained our friendship. We’ve stayed in contact via letters, email, messaging, the occasional phone call, I’ve visited her twice in England and she’s come ‘home’ to Brisbane many times over the years.
My children were not even born before she left Brisbane but my daughter still has a special relationship with this friend, they call “Aunty”. When my daughter was about 2 and my friend was 
visiting she said something to her like “It’s so nice to sit and chat away the hours”.
I’m also reminded of the sign that my friend gave me a few years ago. “Good friends are like stars, you don’t always see them but you know there always there.”
Do you have some friends that you know are always there for you?
What sorts of friends do you have? Here are some of the different types of friendships that I’ve had in my life:
- Seasonal friends who are part of your life for a particular season. I think of most of my friends that I had during uni that were good friends at the time but I no longer see.
- Friends because of a common interest. Many of my MOPS friends would fit here, they became good friends because of our common involvement in MOPS.
- Work friends. Those whom you work closely with (that may be the main thing in common) but you still develop a close friendship.
- Friends at the same stage as you. Many of my close friends have children the same age as mine, as our children have grown, so has our friendships.
- Friends a little further along the road. I have a few of these in my life. Those who have children just a bit older than mine and have been with me as I’ve raised my own children. For several years the ladies in my Bible Study were all further along the road but they were & many still are my friends.
- Friends behind you on the journey. In my current Bible Study group there a couple of ladies behind me on the journey, one who has young children that I’ll often talk to about child raising issues and I enjoy looking after her children from time to time.
Where have you found friendships in your life? Do you have silver and gold friends in your life?