El Día De La Amistad

In the spirit of rejoicing always, as I was reading in Philippians this morning, Bolivia does not miss an opportunity to celebrate. Yesterday was Friend Day, a day for which we really have no counterpart in the States, but maybe we should rethink that. Similar to Valentine's Day, kids buy little cards to pass out to all their classmates and the stores are full of last minute shoppers. But in contrast to our own Hallmark holiday, this one's less about romance and more about appreciating all the people who add a little something to your life, so even the singles are happy.

To make sure no one's left out, without having to invest in presents for every friend, secret gift exchanges are popular. Small groups of amigos through work, school, or in our case our church small group, draw names, buy a little present, and then try to guess who had their name.

On Wednesday, I hosted my new small group in my house, and two nights later, in honor of the occasion, they returned for pizza, games, gifts, and prayer; a pretty much perfect combination in my opinion.

The timing of Friend Day was also impeccable. Since leaving Cochabamba where friends flowed in and out of the language school like water during Carnaval, I've been thinking a lot more about what makes good friendships, and how to make good friendships. I'd never really thought much about it before, but for me a good friend is someone you'd rather be with than be alone, someone who's presence is relaxing, easy, even re-energizing. These past five months in Santa Cruz, trying to immerse myself more in Spanish speaking relationships has meant chatting, going out for tea, talking on the phone, even praying together has taken a lot more effort than my image of the way these things should be; effortless.

But yesterday made me realize, between my co-workers, my vet school Bible studies, my church, and a few other random chicas, at long last I'm enjoying my time with Spanish speaking friends as much as English. Which is good, because I've also realized just how vital good friends are to my sanity. Thank you all for your love, support, encouragement, inspiration, friendship, and this awesome sombrero!

"...a sweet friendship refreshes the soul."

-Proverb 27:9 (The Message)