Friendship Sweeter Than Cupcakes

Have you ever considered just how much God loves you? Better than that, have you ever taken the time to really consider the many ways He demonstrates He loves you each day? James 1:17 says,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Every good and every perfect gift are from God who, though He is the Creator and Sustainer of the heavenly bodies, does not shift and change, rise and set as they do. He is consistent and does not show favoritism, shining on one while plunging others into darkness. We all have been given the opportunity to know Him, to spend eternity with Him, and to experience His abundant blessings. And He never stops giving! One of my favorite blessings has come in the form of friendship.

A few years back, one of my coworkers asked my maiden name. Upon hearing it, he said he thought we had a mutual friend. "Who's your friend?" I asked. "Heath," was his reply.

I don't know about you, but there aren't too many Heaths in my life. In fact, there's only one. And to be honest, this Heath is so special, I don't think another would compare even if there was one. Heath and I went to elementary school together. Just before junior high, I switched schools, and we lost touch; but the memory of his thousand-watt smile and his incredible drawings never faded --Oh! and his mom; his mom is where he got his "special." That woman was amazing! 

Heath and I love to stroll down memory lane. We talk about classmates and parties and plays and teachers. We talk about our mothers, both "homeroom moms" for our class. Heath raves about Mom's "famous" cupcakes and how much he liked having her around. From time to time, we'll do breakfast, and I bring her along. He treats her like a celebrity every time! We talk about the games we played on the playground, field trips, and the great songs we learned in Mrs. Mina's music class. We share what our lives were like outside of school, something we never really discussed when we were kids. And though it is wonderful fun, there is a much deeper blessing in it: seeing my life through someone else's eyes. 

I have seen my childhood through the lens of pain, betrayal, addiction, dysfunction. I have seen the "good stuff" Mom did --the decorating, the cupcakes-- as ways she pretended to the world that we were normal despite the chaos in which we lived. To me, it has been a callous denial of the injuries I suffered. But Heath reminds me that school was a safe place, full of caring and talented teachers who taught for the love of teaching in a time when local schools were a place of community in which parents were fully invested. And it was a place of character and childhood wonder. Heath remembers Mom's cupcakes with joy: colorful treats, a special labor that made our classroom parties a little more sweet. To him, they are the product of someone who cared enough to make our childhood memorable. His enthusiasm is contagious and I begin to see them not through the eyes of a hurt and broken woman, but through the eyes of a child, loved by a lifelong friend and blessed by the Father who loves her enough to send him to her. In this season, I have received a good and perfect gift in a friendship sweeter than cupcakes!