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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Tie (02/28/13)
I first saw Carrie when I was a sophomore in college. We attended a small Christian school and class sizes were rather small. She sat a couple of rows in front of me in a psychology class we were taking.

The first thing I noticed about her, I’m sure everyone noticed about her, was that she was beautiful. She had a long brown wavy mane of hair, sparkling brown eyes, a gorgeous smile with perfect teeth and her nails expertly manicured.

On that first day that I saw her, I felt the roots of envy beginning to dig their way deep into me. She was stunning and I wanted that too.

The second thing I noticed, or assumed in my case was that she was conceited. I figured that along with her great looks, she must also be amazingly smart and probably rich too. All the right ingredients for a stuck up person. And right then, I knew I disliked her.

Jealousy is the tie that binds, and binds, and binds.
Helen Rowland

I don’t remember the actual circumstances under which we met, but I am sure that I braced myself in preparation for one of my biggest fears—intimidation.

Just because she was pretty and smart didn’t give her the right to treat others as inferior, I rationalized with what I thought was righteous anger. Every time we were around each other I raised my enormous emotional safety wall to protect my fragile feelings. She seemed nice, but I didn’t trust her.

Somehow, my roommate, Carrie and I ended up studying for the first test together. Nothing terrible happened and she continued to show us her nice side. She must have wanted something from us I imagined.

Studying together soon became a regular activity. Slowly I began to realize that Carrie wasn’t pretending to be nice, she was a genuinely nice person. She wasn’t prideful, arrogant, snooty, stuck up or any of the things I mentally accused her of. And I began to trust that we had a real friendship. I was right about how beautiful she was, but I no longer disliked her for what God had given her.

The more I got to know Carrie, the more I liked her and we became close friends. I was ashamed of my initial reaction to her—I certainly judged her book by her cover and I was wrong.

Once, I told her of my initial reaction to seeing her for the first time. We had a good laugh at how ridiculous I was. She never held it against me. I learned much from the blessing of having her in my life. She showed me how to treat others. She didn’t care if someone was pretty or not. She made friends wherever she went.

After college we moved to different states, but we attended each other’s weddings and over the years we have kept in touch through Christmas cards filled with family photos that tell the stories of each of our growing families.

I heard once that God gives us different types of friends throughout our lives. Friends that we need for short seasons in our lives, friends that are lifelong friends, and everything we need in-between.

While time and distance have made it hard to stay as close as we once were, I am proud to say that we have maintained a friendship for over 20 years.

Friendship, of itself a holy tie, is made more sacred by adversity.
Charles Caleb Colton
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This article has been read 684 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Phee Paradise
03/11/13
While describing a beautiful friendship, you revealed your own vulnerability. It's clear and well written. And I love your quotes which give an interesting interpretation of the theme.
Beth LaBuff 
03/12/13
This was an interesting and original take on the topic. Your story was an excellent example for your message.
C D Swanson 
03/14/13
Congrats! God Bless~
Cheryl Harrison
03/15/13
Congratulations on your 3rd place win!
lynn gipson 
03/15/13
Congratulations on a great,well deserved win!
Sheldon Bass 
03/15/13
I enjoyed this tremendously. Such a big part of our lives:friendship. I like your use of the topic for this round of the challenge. Congrats on winning 3rd place! Well deserved.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
03/17/13
Congratulations on ranking 34th overall!
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
03/17/13
This is really lovely. It made me think of my youngest who came home sobbing and insisting I call the school and change her teacher when she discovered that next year she would be with the "Meanest teacher in the whole world." I made a deal that she had to stick it out for the first month and if she still had problems then, I'd call the school. You'll never guess who became one of her all-time ever favorite teachers! This is such an important lesson and you told it well. My only suggestion would be, don't put that quote in the middle in bold, put it at the end because for a little while I thought I might be reading something entitled that by that author had had to stop my reading double-check the name of Carrie then continue reading. But other than that one little stumble, this was a delightful story. You did a great job amongst a competitive group. Your ending was beautiful and didn't come off preachy, which can be hard to do at times.