Last week I heard a great interview with a woman who experimented with all sorts of ways to make friends.  
     She left notes for waitresses that she enjoyed. 

     She invited people in her college classes out for drinks before their next class.

     She even utilized a "rent a friend" service that is some sort of mash up between     computer dating and car rental.

After the interview, the show's host riffed on the whole idea of renting a friend like you rent a car.   He wondered if you would have an opportunity to walk around the person to inspect for dings and dents before accepting the rental.
I wondered if he was the sort of guy who is always trying to negotiate the upgrade to a better model.

He got some great laughs, but I'm glad my friends don't view me that way.

Let's be real.  Relationships are hard.  The best ones sometimes leave us a little bruised even.  But if we are seeking a friendship with someone who is free of scratched paint, we're going to have a lot of looking to do.
Friendship is an honest place - where we can reveal the tender spots in our souls and trust the other to hold them gently.
You don't get there quickly, and you won't always know after an initial test drive if this is a relationship that will go the distance.

If you spin me around, it won't be long before you see the places where the paint is thin and I've been knocked by a shopping cart along the way.
But there are some great stories that go with the dents, and you won't learn those in the parking lot.  It takes time to make a friend.
It's the unfolding of those stories - slowly and over time - in which frienships take root.  
And once someone has gifted you with stories that go with the dents, it's pretty hard to walk away - even for a convertible.

I hope the girl in the interview found even one friend as amazing as the friends I have.
And I hope the interviewer goes easy on that next rental car.

Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.                                                                               

                                                                                                     St. Francis of Assisi

You see that I am a very little soul who can offer to God only very little things.

                                                                                                    St. Theresa of Lisieux

A necessary little thing

     to sit still in the quiet morning

          content AND aware 

typically an elusive combination

     To be truly here

          with the dripping of the rain from the eves

          not longing for the might of the storm

     To acknowledge the list waiting in the other room

          and to let that be there while I am here

          tending to another Voice.

So push me back in this chair and lift my face to yours

     poignantly aware of this moment

     and content to let it be.

A wise friend told me this morning that what you do on New Year's Day is what you will do all year long.  I like that better than some of the wive's tales I grew up hearing -  about the bad things that would happen if you did laundry on New Year's or the wealth that would come my way if I managed to choke down some sort of green glop from a big pot on the stove.
Resolutions just haven't seemed to come out of me just yet this year, but I really like the idea of setting the tone for the next twelve months with how I spend just this one day.

So here is what I am doing today:

• Today I am going to eat well - from my own kitchen.  I am going to cook for my family and we are going to enjoy a meal together.
• I am going to go for a great walk in my neighborhood and while I go, I am going to have a good conversation with my husband and best friend, and I am going to say prayers for the neighbors whose homes I pass.
• I am going to laugh with my children - and even play a game with them.
• I am going to write.
• I am going to read.
• I am going to do good work that matters to me and to others.
• I am going to spend time with people who challenge me, inspire me, and give me joy.
• I am going to be grateful, and I am going to say, "Thank you"  OUT LOUD to God and whoever will hear me.

My friend called this morning to share something good with me because, in her wisdom, what you do today is what you will do all year long.  She wanted to give me the gift of hearing something good today.
And following her lead, today - and every day - I am going to share a good word - a rich story - a moment of light and love with someone I meet.

Happy New Year.
If today is any indication, it is going to be a year of blessing and Light!