How I’m Finding Friendship Right in Front of Me

Earlier this year, I experienced a period of great loneliness, grief, and anxiety. In the wake of profound loss and an ongoing battle to juggle caregiving, child rearing, and mental illness, I found myself with a thousand acquaintances but what seemed like no close friends.

Finding friendship right in front of me

At first, I focused on my own insecurities and tried to understand how I had driven my friends away. What was wrong with me? Did I need to seek out new friends? Eventually, I decided to focus on the people in front of me, those I already knew and loved. I reached out and started investing in them again.

I spread kindness and encouragement and tried to spend time with old friends. As it turns out, their busy schedules and personal struggles had been just as much of a barrier to our friendship as my own. I learned that our relationships had never truly been lost, and I wondered why I had not reached out earlier.

As I was breaking out of my friendship dry spell, I read the Old Testament account of Ruth and Naomi:

“Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!’ Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me?’ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.” (Ruth 1:8–14 ESV)

Read more at The Glorious Table.