to Friends!

I got accused of having unrealistically high expectations for people. Not for the first time. Probably not for the last either. But I am sick of hearing it and trying to convince myself that maybe they're right, and I need to come down from my little castle on a cloud and get real. "Too many romantic French novels" - my mother's diagnosis.

Is it necessarily a bad thing though? Having high expectations for people definitely has the potential to come back and bite you when people don't seem to meet them. And then your whole world falls apart. Stuff happens. But I don't believe that taming our dreams and settling for less is a solution. I know it's a cliché, but I'm not talking about "the relationships" that lead to a wedding, seven children and a goldfish for a pet. Those are a whole different topic. I mean "normal" friendships that are meant to be our source of fellowship, encouragement and challenge.

I think we all have certain expectations for the people we proudly call Friends, whether we admit it or not. To name one, we want people to accept us for who we are. Otherwise what good are the relationships when you weigh every word and action, knowing how fragile and dependent your friends' opinions are on those? To expect that unconditional acceptance, isn't that a great standard?

Maybe my expectations are a bit ...overboard. Point taken. But for me one person who comes even close to meeting them (or at least makes a valid effort in that regard) is dearer than a whole squad of half-hearted (or even sincerely interested) acquaintances peering into my life now and again and disappearing just as fast as they came, no matter how good they make me feel at the moment. People like that are rare, but they are the ones that influence us the most, listen the best, laugh the easiest, advise the wisest and show Christ's glory and love more genuinely than any preacher ever could. May we all have, recognize and value friends like that.