Friends are little gems. Tiny diamonds which sparkle love into our lives. A small handful of gems is all one really needs to be truly rich. Aren’t friends wonderful? They are our confidants, our encouragers, our backup dancers.
I mean, every girl needs a backup dancer, no?
Yesterday, we went over to our friends’ house: another family of seven from our church. Their five children and our five children played together; I did a photoshoot for my friend. Small Fry and her friend danced ballet and sang. We moms talked about Monarchs and life with kids and fed our offspring peanut butter sandwiches and looked at carpet samples for her basement. Friends look at carpet samples with you. And care about your health and ask if you want to go on juice fasts with them. And sit by you at church. And make your children feel like five children is the average number of children in a family.
My friend Melissa, who flew in from Nashville to see us this weekend and attend my Photography Workshops, has “two little boys at home,” and I told Big Mac as much when he asked.
“Two?”
“Yes.”
“Only two?”
“Yup.”
“Just two in her family?”
“Yes, Honey.”
“Just two and one dad?”
“Yup.”
“Wow.” He didn’t appear to think that anything was wrong with having “only two” children (I had forgotten about Melissa’s grown son, and Big Mac now knows that she has “only three” children), but it sure did rock his worldview a bit.
It rocked my world today when I met up with twelve other girls, a few of whom were already friends, for my photography workshop. We photographed each other, toyed with our ISOs, tried to read the teeny tiny print on my photography handouts (I have no idea why they came out that way) and made new friends. As friends, we went out to eat at The Jukebox after the workshop and talked. And talked.
Friends are the spice of life. They listen when you call them, even if they live way up in Canada where it’s already dark two hours before the sun sets at your house. Friends dance with you through life’s joys.
And cry with you through life’s hurts. They paint your nails when you lay in a hospital bed, pregnant with a baby you have been told is too sick to make it to his birth alive. Friends take your small group meal item and bring it for you when you’re sick. Friends support your decision to go to Africa. Friends are there for you, always. They pass on photography work to you when their plate is full and meet you for dinner after work this coming Monday. Friends send you Mardi Gras party supplies in the mail and meet you at your uncle’s house for a swim when you’re in California. Friends ask you for baby name suggestions for their little bean because they know you love to give them. Friends support your decision to move and come to your Photography Workshops. They let your dog play with theirs and ask if you want help being held accountable in areas where you struggle. Friends speak the truth to you in love, even when it hurts. They let you borrow their camera and bring you giant cucumbers from their garden when they have more than they can eat. Friends invite you to their church when they know you are moving and offer to permanently store your Mudd Lake furniture in their home. Friends pray for you, text you with funny or encouraging thoughts when they know you’re down and drive you to Target when the transmission in your car dies in Texas.
Friends are little gems. Tiny diamonds which sparkle love into our lives.
I am thankful for my friends.
Wow your friends do some really amazing things for you! Check out Boho. Girls blog to see some great info/inspiration about the Master Cleanse fast. Her Vlogs are great.
amen! i have some of the best friends EVAH, and i’m so thankful to God for them!
We truly are made for community aren’t we.
I love the gem analogy. So true.
What a blessing friends are.
Thanks Jennifer. You are a great friend. You have a huge heart for people, you are a great mother, a talented photagrapher and so much more. Your family has truly blessed us over the last couple years.
I adore my friends. And I try, even with our busy schedules to connect with each of them once a week. Sometimes it is simply a text that says I am thinking of you. Sometimes it has been a card . Sometimes a surprise visit…but MAN I miss my friends now that I live 900 miles away from the closest one.
Ah such a sweet, incredible post. God created us for relationship with Him and others…and in the end nothing matters more than the love that was spent. It’s a beautiful dance of pouring out and filling up. I count my friends as blessed treasures here on this awkward earth. Thank you, Jennifer, for a special weekend.
Love you, friend whom I’ ve never met…in the skin.;)
And we are thankful for YOU!!
Thankful for you!
I so wish I could’ve been there for your Minnesota photography workshop! Hmfph! This stinking cancer just gets in the way of everything!
We’re settled in Indiana and it looks like we’ll be here for about 8 weeks… yikes!
I was so bummed that it didn’t work out to get together before we left, but thing happened so fast, we barely had time to pack!
I think I saw myself in one of those sentences. ;o)
It warms my heart to know I have friends I have never met in real life who I know will be there for me with prayers and support any time I need them.
I love friends and how they can make us see such a different view sometimes, but also the same view. I’m not sure that makes sense.
While I was on hopital bedrest with my twins, a dear friend came and polished my toes , too! This post makes me think of all the amazing friends I have been blessed with and also makes me sad to be so far from them. Since moving to ND, I haven’t made a lot of friends and really miss that time you can only get with a good girlfriend. Funny you posted this because lately, I have really felt their absence more.
Wow, I love that first picture of Small Fry. You can kind of guess how stunning she will look as a teenager and young woman. I hope you will still be blogging then – I want to see pictures of her then.
BTW, I’m stuck in Germany because of Hurricane Irene.
Did that affect you at all?
It’s pretty clear to me that yesterday’s post was pretty stinging for you. It would have been for me! Our friends listen and try not to be judgemental. I was sad for many of the things said yesterday… but also know that many of them probably meant well. Hopefully you can receive some of that information and store it away to ponder. Wishing you the best in all of your decisions and hope you’re feeling better. Move to Knoxville. I’ll be your go-to girl!
Friends move mom’s night out to your hospital room when your water breaks 14 weeks early, they rush to the hospital at 5am when your daughter has a gastric bleed that looks like something out of CSI, they paint bookshelves when your husband is away at war, they stop in public and lay hands on you and pray when they know you are struggling without fear of anyone looking at them like they were crazy.
at my father in law’s funeral someone said something amazing. they said he is the friend who you call when you go to mexico and are broke down and need someone to come and get you. he was that kind of friend
How awesome of a tribute to your father-in-law
Jennifer-
This post is beautiful. I’m so glad you wrote it.
Friends are great & so are you.
Amen! I don’t know what I would do without my friends. I have been, for most of my adult life, geographically far from my family and so my friends have been my family. The Lord has been so gracious, no matter where He’s placed me, to provide a great network of friends to support me, keep me accountable, and point me towards Him. And as I know you know, MckMama, it’s in the tough times that you find out the hard way which ones are TRUE friends, in it for the good, bad & ugly – the ones that stick by you…vs. the ones that fade away because they can’t handle whatever.
Thank God for friends! And Small Fry and her little friend are TOO CUTE!!!
amazing blog post. Thank you.
So, I’m trying to skim over your posts and see what I’ve missed out on
Although this may have nothing to do with this post, I wanted to see, Jennifer, if you have heard of Patsy Clairmont? She was at the Women of Faith conference I was at this weekend (first time I’d heard/seen her) and she was UH-MAZE-ING 
She was the CUTEST little (older) lady on the face of this Earth, and had such sweet wisdom to share. She talked about trials she went through and about ‘change”. She talked about how change can be very good, and sometimes we stand in the way of it. She talked about how just because you think God may be saying “No” to something in your life, that He is really saying “Yes” to something better, something we don’t see yet. All this came after a devtion I read a few days prior that said “Many an opportunity is lost while we deliberate after He has said “Move!”. Struck a chord with me because our family is going through lots of change right now, and instead of fighting it, it makes me just want to hold on tight with prayer and say “Ok, God, let’s go…I’ll know you’ll get me through this safely”….
Great post Jennifer! Friends are such a blessing.
Hope you have a great weekend at your local photography workshop.
~Laura~
Can we be friends so I can get some of your wondeful baby names??
I’m afraid my little girl will never be named ha!
My twins were 4 days old when I FINALLY named them. I simply couldn’t decide! We ended up with an Annelise Lucia and a Bodie Burton. Best of luck and congratulations!!!!! Girls are wonderful!
Friends are pretty wonderful. My grandpa said, “If you can can’t the number of true friends you have on one hand, you are truly blessed indeed.” He knew that true friends are hard to come by and they are valuable and they are few for many of us. Also, friends come in all different packages and they aren’t the usual suspects you would pick…God has picked some friends for me that I would never have thought would be a match…
My grandma told me the very same thing – - it is so true.
Beautiful
I of coursr would love to live closer to you but we. May possibly be getting the chance to move back to Michigan so I don’t think it would happen. 
Ness
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I love reading your blog it’s so funny how some times what I’m going thru in my life fits perfectly to your blog post. Ok so might not be a LIKE FOR LIKE. But pretty darn close. And I was just thinking how my friends are my little diamonds. Good cuts and bad cuts but we all love them.
Again love your blog.
Friends, true friends are a gift from God. I have a true friend staying with me, so I am not afraid, to see me through Irene. He is a gift from God.
You are a gem to me.
In this entire post, you speak of everything your friends do for you. what do you do in return? Real friendship isn’t taken advantage of.
As a friend, you shouldn’t just take, you should also give. As a friend giving should be your first priority, not recieving. As a friend, your thanks should be in how you can offer help, support and caring.
Africa, sickness, photographs, painted nails. It all is so one sided! When I hear of friendship, true lasting and loving friendship, It’s never “look what they did for me” it’s “look what we do for each other.”
Next time you speak to your friends, stop asking and expecting them to help you…ask how you can help them…and help without asking.
Oh good grief. This post was about what wonderful things friends can do for you not about what you can do for them. Of course she returns the favor, but thats not what she is talking about here. Geez get off your high horse and get a life. She obviously wasn’t posting about you today, huh?
Salina……the post was about HER FRIENDS and what THEY DO for HER! Perhaps you don’t have friends who do things for you and with an attitude like yours I can understand why. Jen must do a lot for her friends because friendship works that way….. Gosh I think it is great that she wanted us all to know what great and wonderful friends she truly has because you my dear are NOT one! I have an idea…why don’t all of you peeps that are negative and just have to make comments about what Jen does wrong, etc…..sit yourself down and make a list of what your Thankful for today instead of badgering and trying to take away from us who enjoy reading and are happy in life!
Why is it if someone isn’t 100% on board with the dialogue they are on a high horse? Where does it say “this is a post about what wonderful things friends can do for you”? I read it as a post about “friends being little gems”. In a piece such as this it isn’t unreasonable for a person to expect to read about the full-circle of friendship. As I read I also noticed it to be a very one-sided piece on the benefits of friendship. Does that make me a MckMama hater? Does that mean I need to “get a life”? Do I now have to quit reading her blog because I don’t feel all giddy about her writing on this post? I have read great posts on friends and this wasn’t it. This was a great post on what Jen’s friends have done for her in her times of need. Maybe Salina isn’t as eloquent with her words as you are with your horses on high needing lives, but I suspect she was just disappointed that an article about “Friends” was missing of few components that would have made it a great piece of writing. I’m sure there are words she could have used to express that sentiment in a less attacking manner, but she didn’t. I still don’t think that means she doesn’t have a life.
I love being on a high horse means I can see forever…haha and what I saw was a gal who felt the need to badger Jen about her friends….What a wonderful honor to her friends that she would post about them…. I just don’t understand why others can’t just read be happy and keep their negative thougths to their self. If you don’t like what she writes about, how she lives then stop reading her blog….for goodness sake….
If you are one of those people who can only find the negative in what Jennifer does or writes, then it might be a good idea to find a new blog to read. I thought this was a great post.
Oh, Mckmama DID offer and give in her post. She said she did a photoshoot for her friend and with her friend, looked at carpet samples for friend’s basement. That same friend also asked Mckmama to do something for (with) her… go on a juice fast together. A few of the other items are ambiguous enough that we don’t actually know if it was a friend giving to/doing for Mckmama or if it was Mckmama giving to/doing for her friends. Honoring our friends is such a great idea, and Mckmama honored her friends so well in this post. She expressed her gratitude for the underserved gifts she’s experienced as a result of her friendships. If the tables were turned and we were reading the blogs of any one of these friends she’s just honored in her post here, I would bet these friends would be saying the same things about Mckmama.
Sooo, your saying that it would better if she bragged about what a great friend SHE is? That seems backwards to me! By posting this, Jennifer is giving props and thanks to those who have blessed her. To do the opposite would be the selfish thing!! I love it when friends say something special about me in their blog posts…that I did something to bless them or that they enjoyed being with me or whatever. It makes me feel happy. Pretty sure the people she referred to in this post know who they are and are happy to know that they blessed her.
Pretty sure if MckMama talked about all she does for her friends she would have been ripped about bragging and patting herself on her back. She’s pretty much screwed no matter what she writes. I would agree that Salina needs to find something else to captivate her attention. It’s clear she’s not a fan. Why she reads MckMama is a mystery to me!
I don’t think you read the post clearly if that is what you saw, try looking as a friend and not something else.
Great post on friends. They are amazing when support is needed and there are your friends. Loved your thoughts!
And sometimes…a friend, in love, has to send a letter to share their disappointment!! Wishing you blessings as you move forward.
You are so blessed and you appreciate it and really know it. I wish I had a tiny speck of that in my life.
Blessings Always
You are alive and breathing! I believe that “speck” as already been applied!
Oooooh… have you done the juice fast thing? Was just talking with a friend about it the other day- on the fence though, if you’ve done it I would love to hear about it. Oh, and friends- true friends are hard to come by, but very worth holding on to!
My friend swears by it! I haven’t tried it yet, though. But she has me almost convinced!
I’m definitely considering doing one for a while too… though I didn’t bring our juicer with to Indiana… I might give it a go when we get back, after life settles down a bit and I need to process all of the stress right on outta my body…!
Makes me wish I had more loving supportive friends — it sounds like you have lots of people who care about your and your family … and that’s great. I’ve just found it very hard to make friends — and don’t know, if it is just “me” finding it hard to make friends or if it is this town being a little like a “clique” or because I am a midlife Mum with a 6 yr old at 49 when the rest of the gals my age are looking after grandkids or going on exotic vacations and not having to find babysitters and go to parent/teacher interviews or worry about discipling an almost teenager… Yup, I miss having them…
That can be hard, have you tried the parents of your child’s friends? Some of my best friends were ones that I met when my youngest was that age, through school and other activities.
That was beautiful!
Beautiful post. I love hearing about the everyday stuff too!
That needs to be on a wall hanging. Yes, probably too long but still. It is perfectly stated.
Love this post.
Great post!
It never ceases to amaze me when we see a little more of the craftmanship that God had when He created us. He created us to NEED one another. Not in the way that we need Him, but in a different tangible way. We need community. We need other believers. We need the Body. And isn’t it amazing when you find those friends that stick through it with you? They don’t bail when you no longer have it all “together.” They don’t shirk from their responsibility of holding you accountable. They love your kids like family, and they go the extra mile.
Can we do it alone? We physically can…but God has put so much planning and effort int othis thing called community, that it makes the journey’s highs and lows just THAT much more bearable!
You are ao lucky. I’m so jealous. You are wise to realize what is a wonderful friend-and hopefully your blogging appreciation will inspire more to be good friends.
Beautiful!
Gems for sure! What a great weather weekend for your gathering of gems!
lo
I also loved this post about friendships. Developing a closer friendship network was actually on my to-do list for 2011 (I work, am in grad school, and have five kids, so it’s hard). I have learned this year that it’s better to have fewer high-quality friends than to have many superficial ones. I appreciated this post in particular because I also see a real friend the way you do: as someone who is truly there for you, and who gets you at a deeper level. Thank you for sharing these valuable thoughts. I’ve been following you daily since Stellan’s story first emerged. This was my first comment ever! Grace and peace to you.
Loved this…
Great post. I was able to send a weekend with friends like these last weekend and it was so wonderful.
Love it! Glad we got to meet up & I could help you when you came thru town.
Perfect post Jen, thank you for sharing. Wish I could live near you and be your IRL friend. Praying that God will touch you, whatever is going on in your body. God cares and so do I. BIG HUGS!!! Have a great Sunday!!
Friends are the best, no doubt! Nice setting for that group shot. Who on earth picked that one? Oh wait, that was me. Nice picture of me taking a picture of the crew. So wish I could have joined you for lunch (I was really, really hungry), but I had an important celebration to get to. Alas, maybe they’ll be another chance sometime.
Hi to all the girls tomorrow from me . . . enjoy!
Blessings,
Shana (rhymes with Dana, now you know!)
I skimmed the first sentence too quickly and read ‘friends are little germs’
This was such a sweet post, I hope all your friends read it and know how much you value them, germs and all 
Love from a friend way up in dark Canada.
momofm@m, I did the same thing! gems=germs..teehee Friends are important in life, so are date nights, GNO’s and alone time (for all!)
I rarely comment (maybe like twice before!) but I just had to this time… What a wonderful, pure, post!
Yes,
I don’t know what it was, but I loved this post. This felt like pre-Stellan sick and pre-drama on this blog kind of posting. The kind that I read every day many years ago. I would love it if these kinds of posts came up more often. I love hearing what you do with your kids, fun things you do together, and how you manage motherhood. Thanks!
Oh, me too!!!!! Bring the original MckMama blog back!!!!!
Absolutely agree, Erica. This was a great post, and I’d love to hear more about the kids and day-to-day life, too. Hope you’re feeling better, MckMama!