Friends vs. Acquaintances

If there is one thing I am realizing more and more as the days go by, it is the differences in friends and acquaintances.  I have realized just how many times I have found myself saying things like this friend on facebook posted...oh, I have this friend on facebook who had this great idea to...my facebook friend is doing...

I am seeing that most of the time when I have said those words, the person I am referring to isn't really a friend.  I do believe that acquaintances are put in our lives for a purpose.  I don't think having acquaintances is a bad thing.  I think they can enrich our lives, and sometimes we have something to learn from them, and sometimes we can teach them something and basically they are a good thing.

I think the trouble comes in when a person confuses an acquaintance with a friend.  So many times one of my girls has said something to me about their friend so and so, that they happen to have met at a party and have only seen once and likely never will again.  Or they meet a new child at a playground and they are their new friend.  It's nothing but pure innocence when they are young.  Every child is a friend, and they don't know that not all people who you meet and interact with are friendly. 

As my oldest daughter has gotten to the teen years, we've had to have some talks.  Friends are not mean to you, they don't disrespect you.  When we changed churches, this really came up.  She missed her friends from youth group, and her friends she saw at church.  We had to have the talk about friends and how a majority of these people she had no contact with outside of church, and how if someone never calls you, talks to you, emails you, etc. etc. are they really your friend.

I am seeing just who in my life is a friend and just who in my life is an acquaintance.  When you disconnect yourself from a major social source such as facebook, suddenly the interaction goes from a large amount of people to just a handful.  I am annoyed with myself that I have been sharing details of my life with people who don't care to stay in touch.  I am not upset with the people, just myself. It seems like if it takes less effort to keep up with someone, people have no problem reaching out, and if it takes more effort and isn't directly at your fingertips, less people do.

I am okay with all of this.  It is a good thing.  My friends reach out and they have been very supportive of me, and have thought of me and called, emailed, or come by.  My real true friends know exactly who they are, and I am so thankful that God has chosen to bless my life through them.  I am thankful that the acquaintances that I have/have had are/were in my life as well.  Mostly I am thankful for the clarity I am beginning to have to see which are which and what to do with that information.