Stress, Friends, and a Birthday Party

This afternoon, after a stressful week and a particularly stressful morning, my friends reminded me of the comfort found in the blessing of friendship. 

My Hebrew test this morning was rough. Really rough. I got up at 6:15 to study at a coffee shop. The test was at 9:00. During the first few minutes of class, I began hearing sighs and under-the-breath groans from throughout the room. I soon added my own grunts of confusion and frustration to the chorus of agonizing Christian Studies majors. Between an extensive vocabulary section and a grammatically complex set of translation problems, that exam caused much intellectual weeping and gnashing of teeth. It was not a good feeling. 

Then, after my last class of the day, my friend Jason convinced me to come running-shoe shopping with him. I questioned nothing-it made perfect sense. We often run together and hadn't had any "bro-time" the past couple of weeks, so I was perfectly fine with spending a couple of hours in town with him. Why not, right?

Once we got to Traveler's Rest, however, Jason decided he needed to swing by Walmart to "look for some khakis". Then he had to stop and ask for directions to the shoe store. Well, he stopped at what happened to be my favorite restaurant in town. Rather naively, I still didn't catch on. The restaurant was dimly lighted, and the lenses in my glasses are transition lenses that make it difficult to see anything at all when a room is dark. Jason whispered something to the waitress and walked quickly down the hallway to the left. Slightly confused, I followed and...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" 

Gathered at the table were many of my best, closest friends. To their delight and mine, I was genuinely surprised! The stress of the day receded into the distant, murky ocean of my thoughts and emotions, and I was able to enjoy a splendid afternoon of fellowship. Hearty laughs, good food, and all the joy that comes with spending time with people you love ensued, and I was happy.

Thank you, Lord for friends. The to-do list will never go away. We will always be busy. We will always have stress. But God has given us the blessing of friendship, and that will be with us to the end. Thank you, Lord, for friends.