Friends
Friends
Friends are important to me - they are an integral part of my life, besides my family. To me, they are the people who help shape me into who I am. And to me, true friends are those who are courageous enough to confront me when I'm wrong, and tell me where they think my blindspots are and areas that need changes. True friends are also those who would hold what I share with them in confidence, and not betray my trust.
Over the years, I've developed good friendships with the girls I spent time grooming, and besides seeing them grow and blossom as ladies after God's heart, we are also trying to keep in contact with each other - I guess, this is where I'm thankful for the different technology available to help us do so. Bre and Mich came down yesterday - before my final week in school - to visit me and have some catching up. We took some photos as well. I guess the Cambodia Mission trip we went in Dec 2005 helped to draw us closer, even though I'm a teacher and they were my students.
Even as I look back into my last year at the College, green as I was when I first started class with the rest of my classmates, now there are so many good friendships forged. I'm thankful for every single one of them that God has brought into my life, allowing me to cross paths with them, allowing them to challenge and shape me into a better person too. I'm thankful to those who were willing to trust me with their struggles, problems, etc - having full confidence in me that I'm mature enough to handle what they share and keeping those things shared in confidences. Thanks, friends - you all know who you are =)
I guess the only "drawback" I have is I don't have enough non-believing friends. Yes, it's an irony, and it's not a good thing, actually. That means I have been too immersed in a group of believers that I'm not reaching out to the others. And as I reflect on this area of friendship, I guess this is where I really need to put a conscious effort into. Yup, I'll try ...
Friends are important to me - they are an integral part of my life, besides my family. To me, they are the people who help shape me into who I am. And to me, true friends are those who are courageous enough to confront me when I'm wrong, and tell me where they think my blindspots are and areas that need changes. True friends are also those who would hold what I share with them in confidence, and not betray my trust.
Over the years, I've developed good friendships with the girls I spent time grooming, and besides seeing them grow and blossom as ladies after God's heart, we are also trying to keep in contact with each other - I guess, this is where I'm thankful for the different technology available to help us do so. Bre and Mich came down yesterday - before my final week in school - to visit me and have some catching up. We took some photos as well. I guess the Cambodia Mission trip we went in Dec 2005 helped to draw us closer, even though I'm a teacher and they were my students.
Even as I look back into my last year at the College, green as I was when I first started class with the rest of my classmates, now there are so many good friendships forged. I'm thankful for every single one of them that God has brought into my life, allowing me to cross paths with them, allowing them to challenge and shape me into a better person too. I'm thankful to those who were willing to trust me with their struggles, problems, etc - having full confidence in me that I'm mature enough to handle what they share and keeping those things shared in confidences. Thanks, friends - you all know who you are =)
I guess the only "drawback" I have is I don't have enough non-believing friends. Yes, it's an irony, and it's not a good thing, actually. That means I have been too immersed in a group of believers that I'm not reaching out to the others. And as I reflect on this area of friendship, I guess this is where I really need to put a conscious effort into. Yup, I'll try ...
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