Safe People

I need to take a moment to thank the "safe people" in my life.  I have been immensely blessed by having such people in my life and I want to recognize the Lord's hand in guiding me to places and situations which allowed such people to come into my life. 

I have been reading a book loaned to me by one of my "safe people" and have been reminded of the importance of having a strong support structure of individuals with whom you can share your soul and your pain with confidence - sure that they will love you, support you, unconditionally.  I am very grateful that years ago I followed the advise of a counselor to expand my support structure.  I strengthened the friendships I already had and learned how to find and build others.  I took the scary steps to open up and discover the people who would reciprocate.  To find those with whom I can bare pieces of my soul and who will show me parts of theirs, knowing that nothing we see there will change how we care about each other.

Unfortunately, not all of your friends and family can do that.  It's not that they are terrible people, or don't love you, but, as I was reminded in my reading, it takes a special mix of attributes and relationship building for such "safe" relationships.  And finding you have confided in someone who cannot fill that role can be painful.  In my quest for more "support" I have sometimes misjudged relationships, been hurt, and have had to mentally reset limits, and there are some relationships in my life where I am still trying to determine what level of "openness" is "safe". 

But, I do have "safe people" in my life.  And to them I say thank you.  To know that there are friends who will take my random calls and free up hours to "talk me down" from my upset feelings.  To know there are friends who will drop everything and come over, even late at night.   To know there are friends that no amount of time or distance can affect.  To know there are friends sensitive to the spirit who know what I need even before I can ask.  Thank you for sharing your time, your stories, your faith and your love. 
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