For Good

There's an old quote that still floats around today--usually on plaques or wall hangings--that says "some people come into our lives for a moment, and others come into our lives and leave their foot prints on our hearts and we are never the same." (or something along those lines--that was a paraphrase...) I've always liked the quote, even though I will admit that it is a bit on the sappy side (ok maybe that's why I like it, I am a bit on the sappy side...). But, today, as I was listening to the Wicked soundtrack on repeat (yes, I'm a bit obsessed right now), I realized that there was a song on it that I think sums up friendships, or the way I view friendships, even better than this quote. I think people do come into our lives and cause us to change, cause us to become a little more who God created us to be, and these are the people and relationships I hold most dear in my life. As I've moved from high school to college and now to grad school, and as I have intentionally invested in three different "communities" or groups of people, I have several individuals who I think God has brought into my life over the years to cause me to grow and change--I have several different groups of people that I cherish, and I am so thankful for each one of them and for the role that each has played in my life. As I heard the lyrics of this song I had this mental slideshow rolling through my mind of all the faces of people I love, and people who have loved me so faithfully even when I haven't always been very good at returning that. I thought I'd share the lyrics to this song, along with some of the photos of people who have literally left their foot prints on my heart, who have "changed me for good."

For Good"--from the Wicked soundtrack

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led to those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend...



Like a ship blown from its mooring

By a wind off the sea

Like a seed dropped by a skybird

In a distant wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been

Changed for the better?

I do believe I have been

Changed for the better

And because I knew you...

Because I knew you...

Because I knew you...

I have been changed for good.