Old Friends

"Can you take me back when we were just kids Who weren't scared of getting older? 'Cause no one knows you like they know you And no one probably ever will You can grow up, make new ones But truth is there's nothing like old friends 'Cause you can't make old friends"

I was at a Ben Rector concert this past weekend in Greensboro, NC and it was absolutely incredible. The performance was just as good as the studio version of his songs, if not better and the crowd was into it the entire time. Ben Rector is a phenomenal artist who does such a great job using themes in his songs that really make you think and reflect on your life. At the end of his concert he did this song called "Old Friends", whose chorus is listed above. This is the part of the song that really causes me to think about the important times in my past, what time I have in the present, and what times await in the future.

I am currently a Senior at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC and I graduate in May. As the final month and a half of college nears, I am scared of getting older. I know that no one will know me like my current and old friends do. I can grow up and make new ones but the meaning that old and current friends have in my life cannot be put into words. As I heard Ben Rector sing, this is exactly what I thought of.

The great part about the concert was that I went to it with old friends. I met one of my best friends from high school, his girlfriend, and her college roommate at the concert hall and it felt like all of the memories from high school were rushing back. For that time that I spent in the Cone Denim Entertainment Center, I felt the joy of being with people who knew me almost my whole life. I was taken back to the time when I spent the best week of my life with my best friend and other high school friends at Windy Gap, a Young Life Camp. I felt all of this because I knew that these people knew me well and the times I spent with them were the times that I had made forever-lasting memories.

But the reality is, we can't go back to those old memories. We only have the present and future. In the midst of our current struggles, we want the pressure to be taken away and go back to when we were truly just kids. We want to go back to the times when we didn't feel burned out from our busy and repetitive schedules. We want to go back to the memories with our old friends. The times that were filled with laughter. The times that were filled with excitement & joy. The times that were filled with sadness. That times that were filled with vulnerability. Regardless of the emotions felt during these times, these were times that we opened up and were our true and authentic selves. These were moments where we experienced true friendship.

I think friendship is one of the many gifts from God. Friendship allows for many things but I think the biggest thing out of friendship comes love. Love makes us feel known and seen. Love makes us feel important. Love is contagious and love is what Jesus has for us. Jesus wants us to experience friendship because it inspires us to love others. Ben Rector's concert was a time where all of those emotions came flowing back, but the biggest thing I remembered from my old friends is that they were reminders of Jesus because they showed me what it means to live a life of love.

So my hope for you is that you can experience friendship in the greatest of ways. Whether it is reminiscing on childhood, old friends, current friends or making new friends. Whatever is keeping you down or feeling burdensome can be weakened with friendship, because friendship is a source of love and Jesus wants us to see love, feel love, be loved and become love.

Brothers and sisters, I invite you to taste and see for what is good and true in life. One of these is friendship. For those of you who I know, hello friend. And for those of you I am bound to meet and know, I welcome you new friend. Love matters. Friendship matters. God's design for you is to flourish alongside the people who matter most.

"Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he or she really is." - Jim Morrison

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." - Albert Camus

This is a link to Ben Rector's video of "Old Friends". Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SU8gxrhs1g