January 27, 2008 @ 4:42 am | Filed under: Friends

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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We sat around my dining room table – The Planner, The Initiator, The Encourager, and The Entertainer – and I listened to the sound of my friends’ animated chatter and their infectious laughter.

We had finished our dinner of shrimp cocktails and Mojo grilled chicken salads and now our plates were pushed back and our individual calendars lay open before us. We tried to move quickly through the months, penciling in important dates, events, birthdays, trips, and church group activities, but, invariably, each thing penciled in would prompt a new thought, a new idea, or a new tangent of conversation.

At one point I settled back in my chair and just listened.

Listened to the sound of friendship.

I looked around this small circle and thought how lovely it was to have this group of girlfriends in this stage of my life. I’ve never known such complete selfless love and genuine affection as what is felt and seen and known in this group. I can only think that this particular group dynamic works so well for one reason and one reason alone. We are four distinctly unique individuals who share a deep love of God and a deep commitment to our individual talents and abilities. Never do we try to cross into one another’s territory, but we, instead, are one another’s biggest and loudest cheerleaders EVER.

The Planner is the woMAN with the plan. You want to throw a party? You wanna go on a trip? You want to figure out how to wear a different outfit to church for three months straight using only 6 pieces of clothing? NOT a problem. All you need is a good plan, and she can be counted on for that.

The Initiator is the go-to gal once that plan has been established. Affectionately dubbed Cheguyver by the group, she can quite possibly create, fix, or alter – anything – with just a piece of gum, a hair pin, and some double-sided tape. Her quiet nature belies the hilarious comedy that ensues as she calls out for tools she needs and we scramble to dig them up and pass them off to her. The Plan would be nothing without The Initiator.

The Encourager is the gentle force that keeps the entire group moving forward. She is, both, quiet and ferocious, loyal and biased, sensitive and headstrong. She defies labels. She is the first to cry and the first to laugh. She is the supplier of All Things Chocolate and the official Bringer of Kleenex to girl’s night in. She thinks The Planner is the bomb and that The Initiator is the original Superwoman. We think she is irreplaceable.

The Entertainer is our rejuvenator when spirits are tired and energy is low. She is a slow, quiet force that catches you unaware and then delights you with a humor that is all encompassing and infectious. She’s the one who prays away the calories from our food before it ever passes our lips and she is the first to break up an overly solemn moment with slapstick humor. She is our laughter, even on days when we don’t feel much like laughing. Our lives are merrier because she’s in them.

Each of these women are strong and independent and whole on their own. Together, they are women warriors. The results of this phenomenal friendship ripples over into the lives of the men they love, the children they raise, the work they do, and the roles they play.

They never stand alone. Behind each one is…

A plan.

An implementation.

Encouragement.

Laughter.

The four together?

They are the sounds of friendship.