a tale of two friends

today, i am thinking of two dear friends, kayla and ryan.

it's kayla's birthday today. she is one of those kids in my youth group that reminds me why i do what i do. when i first met kayla, i had her written off. i don't know if i ever told her this or not, so sorry kayla if this is a surprise! but i figured her for one of those popular kids. and not just a nice polite popular kid. but one that eats you up and spits you out before you have even said hello. like the mean cheerleaders in high school. or the football jocks. or kyle clement...curse you kyle clement!!! (not actual person) anyway, she has shocked me by not fitting into my pigeon hold. she has turned out to be a nice, decent human being. she is not mean or cruel in anyway. although, she does pick on me for having long arm hair...i cry myself to sleep every night. in fact, she is the opposite of what i thought. she turned out to be loving, caring, kind and thoughtful. she is very willing to go against the flow, which many kids aren't. she is willing to step out on a limb and be different from the rest. right now, she is struggling to be a christian amidst friends who do not understand and are not trying to understand. and she has stood strong. i would have caved like an ant vs. a bear in a knife fight. but she is going against the flow, trying to figure out what it means to live the christian faith in an age where it is often seen as only homophobia and anti-abortion. i am proud of her. she inspires me. i often tell the kids in my youth group that i believe they can change the world, and i really believe that. and the reason i do is because of young people like kayla.

my second friend is ryan goodwin. many of you will know this old scamp. he is a man among men, and a leafs fan going against the flow. when everything in the world is telling him that his hockey team sucks, he still stands strong in the midst of persecution and 41 years of no stanley cup...ha, anyway, now that i have angered him, i will flatter him. most people who know me would refer to me as a liberal. i think most people who know ryan would classify him as a conservative. i know those are just dumb labels, but they make the most sense of where we stand on our thoughts and issues. but here's the problem. ryan challenges those labels for me. i can't just slap the conservative label on him. because when i think of conservative, usually my stomach turns a bit and i think of rush limbaugh, stephen harper, and george bush. and those names often make me want to offer up the latest food i have eaten for all to see. but ryan doesn't fit this label. i often use this label to define people who are satisfied with the status quo and not willing to move an inch. yet ryan is an honorable man, much better than myself. and he is willing to move. he is willing to move forward and become a better human being. i am more content, often, to simply sit and do nothing and suffer through the status quo. i guess my labels have turned on me. maybe i'm the conservative. but ryan hates gun control. he hates michael moore (or at least fahrenheit 9/11). he doesn't like the liberal or ndp government. these are all things that i generally approve of! we are complete opposites in many ways and in many of our political stances. but ryan is still willing to accept me as a friend and engage me in intense discussion. not only that, but he is willing to move past discussion and examine his own life. he is willing to not stand on the party lines and set up a defense system, which i am often prone to do. he is willing to break down these barriers. and so even though he thinks some different things politically, i cannot call him my conservative friend anymore, because he challenges me to progress in my thinking and move beyond petty differences. this is my friend ryan. he is so much more than a political view. and i am so thankful that he is willing to put up with my "liberal" arrogance.

these are my two friends. my only two. will someone else be my friend?