Best Friends

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. Henry Ford

When I look back over my life, my best times have always coincided with the times I had the best friends. When I was seven years old, my best friend was Steven Price. We lived across the street from each other, but went to different schools. After school and all summer long, we were inseparable. When I was eleven, my best friend was David Bales. We were in different grades but, again, after school and all summer long we were together from just after sunrise to well after sunset.

It was with these two friends that I rode a million bike miles, played countless hours of catch, went to the library, learned to play chess, and just did about everything else in between. When I was in high school, my best friend was Roger Bartow. When we weren't working together at Kentucky Fried Chicken, we were out cruising the strip or just hanging out - it didn't much matter where.

In college, I was blessed with an abundance of close friends, from my roommates (Brian Biggers & James Attensil) to my apartment mates (Mark Barnes & Steve Benjamin), to two of my best friends ever (Phil Prince and Pat Baker). Names do not come to me very easily, but when it comes to these friends, they are engraved on my heart. They were the difference between a so-so life and a life jam-packed with joy. Of course there were a few girl friends as well, I suppose, but a wise man develops amnesia when it comes to those names.

But my best friend of all time is the one I married nearly thirty years ago. Hands down, Carolyn (used to be Moudy) is the best friend I have ever had, and the best friend I ever will have. We have shared the good times (about thirty years) and the bad times (about 5 days - all my fault) but most important of all, we have shared a deep and abiding faith in Christ our Savior.

I don't deserve the life I have had with the dear friends I have had, but I do know this: Without these friends to share life with, life would have been empty. I know this to be true, for I had a lot of years growing up when I did not have a close friend, and those years were difficult. Friends really are the secret ingredient to a happy life. Without those special friends with whom you can savor everything from a game of catch to a beautiful sunset, life would only be half-lived. If you have a good friend, you have been given a great gift - you should thank your Heavenly Father on a regular basis for that gift. It wouldn't hurt, by the way, to thank your friend as well.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24, NIV