Making New Friends.

I found a new best friend.

As is the case with so many friends who have shaped my life, she's in the pages of a book I'm reading. Actually, she passed away several years ago. But she's alive in my book. And that's what matters to me.

It's always disappointing when you think you have a real connection with the heart of another only to find that they are false, jealous, conniving, little, or smutty. There are too many of these people and stories in the world. Which is why I was especially glad to find this gem of a girl.

Here's what I find irresistible about her life story:

She is real--a living, vibrant woman, with faults, strengths, discouragements, joys, hopes, dreams. Her story doesn't only tell the good; it tells the bad, hard, frustrating, and sad, too.  I get to read about how she overcomes and plods on, despite set backs and hard falls. I so relate to that. I think, "Here is a woman just like me! There's hope for me yet!"

I love that hope is just oozing out of the pages of this book. I feel like I could grab some of the glittering, oozing hope-gel and spread it all over my world. I'm amazed at how much hope helps to change my perspective, my abilities, and my desires.

Her friendship and voice is always available to me. Instead of staying awake at night, drowning in thoughts of my full schedule or my struggling child or my hopeless flaws, I listen to her story. It feels so good to calm my mind and just listen--without any interruptions. Everyone needs a friend who doesn't always talk nonsense. I love her for that.

She is grounded in what matters most. She lets the insignificant be just that. She cherishes the deep and lasting. She lives to see her dreams become realities.

I am so grateful to include her in my circle of true friends.

I'm hereby committed to filling my life with those who uplift, inspire, and encourage me.