When Time Is Too Short...

This is a story about my wonderful friends Ben (almost 16) and Hannah (14)....

The Awana year had just begun when they first started attending. I still remember the first day they came. It was Silly Hat Night and I was wearing a golden "Abraham Lincoln" type of hat. We met and then I mentioned that I only go to that church for Awana and not for the Sunday services by saying something like, "Yeah I don't go to church..." Ben replied teasingly, "You don't go to church?!" I'm like, "well not here." That's how it all started. 

Time went on and Hannah worked in Sparks with us for a while. She was fun to be around but after a few weeks she got moved to Cubbies. 

Also, Ben was in T&T. Thus, I never really hung out with either of them. Finally, probably over halfway thought the Awana year, Ben was temporarily moved to Sparks for one night and we hung out some. It was then that we started to hang out and I realized that he's really cool.

So my friend Nathan (whom I've known for years) and him worked up in the sound booth at Awana. So eventually, I ended up hanging out with them. I had so much fun doing that, but always felt like I was unwanted and I didn't really have a legitimate reason to be in there. 

However, before too long, I found out I was wrong. Ben decided to revamp the singing portion they'd do during lesson time with the T&T kids. One day when I was hanging out with them in the sound booth, he looked over and asked me if I want to play the piano for it. I agreed and we began to plan and practice together before club. I still hung out with them in the church's sound booth and actually felt like I had a reason to. It was during that time that I found out that Ben and I would both laugh uncontrollably at the stupidest stuff.

I also ended up hanging out in the Trek/Journey/Youth room with a bunch of teens and their awesome leader. Ben and Hannah were both in there and a lot of the time the entire group would just end up talking and singing and laughing. One time Ben, Miss Mindy (their leader), and I laughed so hard we cried. Ben and I would also hang out some and insult each other just a little bit jokingly.

We continued to do music for T&T. Eventually, my friend Anna joined us and we realized we were going to need more than 10 minutes of practice. So we planned to get together one Sunday afternoon at my church. It was fun and we were way more prepared--we sounded better and everything went much smoother. 

The next weekend my sister, mom, and I went to a local Christian girl's conference called "Not For Sale." I spent the weekend with quite a few wonderful girls I know, one of them being Hannah. I feel like we really connected and became better friends because of that time. :) It was really cool because my mom and their mom really connected as well.

Therefore, the very day after the conference ended, Mom, Anna, and I went to their house so that Ben, Anna, and I could practice for music time at Awana. We were there for about 45 minutes before we had to leave because both my family and their family had things going on soon after that. We laughed, talked, practiced and had a real blast (as is pretty usual). When our mothers came into the room to announce we had to leave, some of us mentioned our disappointment that the fun was over so soon. 

It was going to be our last week to play music at Awana for this year and after two weeks, the entire year of club ends. As I walked out their front door Ben said something about not seeing each other all summer and I said, "No we will. We just have to plan stuff." He agreed. It will happen...it needs to!

I love Ben and Hannah because they are super great friends to have. They know how to have a good time, tease you relentlessly, and laugh super hard...but they also know how to be serious. There've been times that Ben and I would just start talking about convictions on things at the drop of a hat or I would just spill some of the details of a pretty personal story to him, or that we'd talk about their sister who had run away from home. There was one time that Hannah actually cried on my shoulder about her little brother that had died and I just held her for a little while. Not every friendship you make will be that close after a little over half a year. I'm truly privileged to have been able to meet them and blessed to have them as my good friends.

Once we got into the car and my mom said, "That was way too short." I agreed. And now that I think about it now, I see her sentence as an analogy.

You see, the thing is, not only is 45 minutes too short for a visit with them, but 2 years is too short a time to have with them. They're a military family and so they move to a different base every 2 years. It's really sad. I'm going to miss them.

It's a fact of life. Time is too short. However, the limited time they have here will be spent well. I want to take advantage of every month they are here because I love them. I could just decide not to hang out with them so that I don't get attached to them and then am hurt when they have to leave. But no, they're amazing people and I will become good friends with me even if the pain of missing them nearly kills me. Also, in the words of Wild Style (from the LEGO movie), "I don't like goodbyes. So let's just call this, 'see you later!'" I don't want it to end when they move away. Thankfully we have technology in this day in age to help us keep in touch. And, when all time passes, we have eternity together in heaven because we all believe in the same wonderful God. He brought us all together in the first place and He's the reason we are friends...and always will be family. :)