The Virtuous Daughter Magazine Fall 2017 edition Cherish | Page 20

TO THE COFFEE SHOP
CHERISHING CLOSE FRIENDS
WORDS BY HEATHER LEHMAN // PHOTOS BY LORI PLANK
Have you ever crafted a perfect care
package to send to a friend gone for
a few weeks at Bible School? Maybe
you spent a few hours and a few
twenty dollar bills, collecting just
the right treats, writing notes, and
figuring out postage. You shipped
the box full of goodies with your
own heart full of warm sentiments.
Your friend was away, and you
missed her.
Then she came home and you gave
her a huge hug at church. From
your perspective, she slipped right
back into normal life, and you were
glad to have her back. Occasion-
ally, she’d make a comment that
reminded you she had been away,
but usually you hardly remembered
she’d ever left.
Once she showed up with a new
case for her cell-phone. “Oh that’s
pretty,” you commented, ever the
observant friend.
“My roomie from Bible school sent
that for my birthday,” she ex-
plained.
Her birthday? You ran a quick
mental calendar scan and realized
her birthday had been history for
20
two weeks. “How fun!” you ex-
claim, deciding not to mention that
her birthday never once crossed
your mind.
She’s your friend – your good
friend – yet, when she’s part of
your routine life, it’s easy to forget
just how much she means to you,
and even easier to forget to express
that appreciation.
How can we cherish the friends
close to us – not only close to us
emotionally, but also close to us
physically? Maybe it’s the sister
who will definitely be our someday
maid-of-honor, but who usually
only gets the leftover pieces of our
week. Maybe it’s the cousin who
lives three farms away and milks
cows with us every weekend. May-
be it’s the friend at church whose
steady presence in our life has
grounded us many times. When
these friends move on, we will re-
alize just how much we miss them.
Let’s consider how we can bless
them now in the everyday pulse of
life.
Spontaneous Kindness
I used to work at a café with several
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