making friends

When I was a kid there wasn't much need to make friends; I had five brothers. Sure, I had some friends at school, but no friendships that lasted after I was out of school. And then, after I got married, I was so wrapped up with my new family there wasn't a lot of time for making friends. I guess, too, I had a lot of growing up to do and it's taken some time to develop what it takes to make new friends.

A year ago I started attending a new church. I settled in pretty quickly and ventured out to get to know people. That's a difficult thing for me, but I've made a couple of good friends. The problem is about the only time I ever see them is at church. We've gone out a couple of times (shopping or to see a movie), but never really just sat down to get to know each other.

So this past week I decided I'd just have to make some time. I asked one of my friends if she wanted to have coffee on Saturday. It was the best time I've had in a long time. We went to Starbucks and drank coffee and talked for two hours. Turns out we have quite a lot in common that we hadn't realized before.

It's amazing how something as simple as asking someone to have coffee can change your whole perspective. Taking that first step was scary for me, but I'm sure glad I did.