Friends Are the Ones Around When it Rains In high school we got sick of the M. Smith song, “Friends are friends forever.” Real life teaches you it isn’t true. Those you thought were friends for years can forget you and even turn on you if you don’t live up to their expectations. And it hurts. I used to use the teaching tool: A true friend C.A.R.E.S. when teaching kids: C = challenges you to be a better person A = accepts you just the way you are, they don’t reject you when you mess up R = respects you, they don’t do things to hurt or damage you, they don’t ‘get even’ E = encourages you – they are there when you need them most S = sticks with you, no matter what A genuine friend who was in town this week said something that I wanted to post here: “A friend is someone who runs in when everyone else is running out.” I just wanted to say thank you to those who have been a genuine friend to me in the past several months… there have been many, and often not the ones I would have expected. God… Continue reading