golden girls

This has been a sad day for me. Bea Arthur, one of my fave Golden Girls, has passed away at 86 and this has me doing some soul-searching. Who are my golden girls?

So I am starting to realize a few things since I made the move to Albuquerque...I am blessed beyond belief by the women God has placed in my life. Don't get me wrong- I am still on that hunt for some good ole' fashioned girlfriends in Albuquerque. But here is a glimpse of my last few weeks...

People from high school are all over facebook and I am still trying to figure that one out! There are those who I was very close to in high school that are basically strangers to me now. One was my maid of honor when I got married...but we grow up and sometimes that means we have to grow apart. That is tough when you realize how different you really are...yet how the other person appears to be the same!

Then I have those friends who I regrettably did not get to know as well as I could have in high school and they have become my sisters. Shawna, my crazy SC sis inspires me daily...such a passion for Christ, mixed in with her southern belle charm...a woman after God's own heart! A wife, mother, sister, friend, daughter, the list goes on. She has become very important to me...there may be a thousand miles between, but being together in Him, takes the focus off of the distance! I can' t wait to meet her precious kiddos and her new little man who will make his appearance in a few weeks! I will make a trek to SC within the next year or so...it is on my to do list! There are others as well...Mary, tee, January, the list goes on and on!

Then I have my pals in Louisiana who I miss terribly, but God is opening and closing doors there as well. Some doors closed the minute I announced I was moving, some closed a little more slowly, but still some have opened since the move and the result has been amazing. Different in their own way but Diane, Amy, Jennifer, D'aunn, Melissa, the list goes on. These are women who make me smile from the inside out! Women who I have discovered or perhaps, re-discovered since moving out here. Amy, a few months ago, was Christina's teacher, but since the move she is no longer Mrs. R- but Amy. Someone am blessed to call friend. What I have found is this...the relationships that you are willing to work for are the ones you will have at the end of the day. Some are only meant to be for a season and realizing that has been one of the toughest life lessons for me to learn. I so want to be liked, but have found that chasing down others for their approval meant I was losing sight of myself. So i have turned over a new leaf and am striving for drama free relationships...those relationships where I can be real...take it or leave it. I think that I am in a place where that is happening now...some are through facebook, or kept alive through text messages and e-mails, but still are important to the growth of my soul. I am on a journey to find those relationships here in ABQ and I know they await me, but for now I am enjoying the journey with those God has called to walk this path with me...no matter where they may be.

In tribute to Bea Arthur and my golden girls on the screen...Thank you for being a friend, travel down the road and back again, your heart it true, you're a pal and a confidant...and if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say thank you for being a friend!