Anybody Got A Friend Like That?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that... I just plain miss how things used to be. I can't give them up. I miss when I was seven, and I had my very own dog. He was my best friend. I miss when was ten and eleven, and my best friend was really still my best friend. Where we had the funniest of conversations. Where we were super close. Where she was always there for me. Where we were inseparable.

But things have just changed. We've gone our separate ways. Even though we're still great friends, things just aren't the same anymore.

Earlier tonight, I was talking to one of my online friends on a chat system. And somehow, we started talking about our old days. Where we were the best of friends. How we used to have endless conversations. He's a guy, and I'm a girl, but we didn't care. We were the only ones who could understand each other. And we loved it that way. But then, something happened, and our friendship just fell apart. Our conversations grew smaller and smaller, until they were completely dropped. We realized tonight that we really missed those conversations. That we were growing farther and farther apart, and we didn't like it. So we made a decision that we're going to try to return to the "old days". Even though him and I are so entirely different then we were back in March-July, we can still be friends. I think things will go better now.

I just plain don't have that many friends. The youth at my church consists of me, my brothers, and a small smattering of babies, two toddlers, a five year old, and a seven year old. Even though I absolutely love hanging out with the people at Speech club, it's not like we get together all the time and know each other's personal secrets. At art class, we're more like a really wacko family. We just blurt stuff out, so that we can never really be "friends".

Have you ever heard the Hawk Nelson song, "Friend Like That"?

"I, I need somebody on the inside
I, I want somebody who can set me free
I'm not the only one who feels like this
I've got a few others around me

Hey let me hear ya say
Make some noise if you feel this way
Hey if you got a friend like that
Hey let's scream and shout
If you know what I'm talkin' `bout
Anybody got a friend like that?"

So obviously I'm not the only one in desperate need of a "friend like that"!

A friend like that... Someone who would listen.

"I needed a person
Who would just stay
And smile patiently
While I talked all day"

Someone who actually cared.

"Someone who cared for me
No matter what I did
They’d love me to the end
And that’s exactly what you did"

Someone who wanted the real me, no matter what.

"I longed for a person
That wanted the real me
I didn’t have to put on a disguise
You just let me be"

Someone who showed me the way when I was lost.

"And then you came along
You opened a door I hadn’t seen before
One that led to what I needed to see
One that made me smile much more"

Someone who really loved me.

And quite frankly, I just couldn't find a friend like that. I was lost.

On one of my favorite websites (purenrgonline.com), we're all one big family. All of us regular members are all such great friends, and one of the things we all find most important is the fact that we can share prayer requests, and we instantly have ten people posting, saying they're praying. It's amazing how things spread around, and all of a sudden, everyone's praying. I first really saw this back in July.

One girl, who hadn't posted all that much before, made a desperate prayer request comment. These were her exact words:

"Would you [Jordan Yates, pureNRG] and anyone else reading this do me a HUGE favor? okay, I have a new little brother named Elijah! the only prob is that he was due on October, 22. but insted he decided to come monday night. [Remember, this is back in July!] he is 2lbs. 3oz. he's doing fine right now, but he's gonna need all the help he can get if he wants to make it in this world, PLEASE PRAY! Thanks SO much! love ya! Congrats on ur permit! love, ur sister in Christ, Gabe"

Less than an hour afterwards, one of my very good friends on that website responded saying that she'd pray for Gabrielle and Eli. Soon someone else came on, saying the same. Gabrielle was overwhelmed with joy. Finally, I saw the comment, and said that I'd be praying for Eli. I was remembering the tragedy with my little sister, and I promised that I'd pray constantly for them.

The flood of replies to her, and her responses were incredible. At least thirty of us responded, without knowing anything at all about her, all saying that we'd pray for this baby we'd just learned about. The love was amazing.

This really opened a door to us other members. We realized that we were going to get lots of prayers, so now there's knew requests every other day. I asked people to pray for my Speech tournament, and got unbelievable responses. And just a couple days ago, one kid told us about one of his sister's friends who died in a car accident. It was very sad, especially since the mom died soon afterwards, and there were tons of posts saying that they'd pray.

Now that, I'm telling you, is a true friend. A good friend. A friend like that. Everyone on there are the friends that I've been looking for. I found what I needed.

But most of all, I've realized who's the real Friend that all of us need. Jesus is the One and Only that can really fill our hearts and be the Friend that we honestly need.

Thank you, Jesus, for always listening.

For always caring.

For always wanting the real me.

For always showing me the way.

For always loving me.

For always being my friend.