Do you ever take friendship for granted? Growing up, I was shy and didn’t have a whole lot of friends. In junior high school, I transitioned from a small private school to a much larger public school. This experience proved to be a monumental change for me as I was now outnumbered in a sea of strangers. While I had some friends at church, at school I was basically a loner. I spent my pre-teen years on my own.

  After graduating high school, I moved away to attend university. This was a pivotal point in my life and in more ways than just one. For the first time I started to come out of my shell. An important factor contributing to the change was my new environment. Now that I was surrounded by so many of my peers, I started to feel accepted. I felt included and even wanted by those around me. This was a new era for me – relationally speaking.

  Over the years, I’ve come to truly treasure this season because of all the tremendous people I was able to meet.